Illinois Senate Also Passes Bill to Move Special U.S. House Election from March to April

November 30th, 2012

On November 29, the Illinois Senate passed the same bill that the House had passed the day before. It permits the state to hold the special U.S. House election to fill the vacant U.S. House 2nd district seat in April instead of March.



Pennsylvania State Senator Mike Folmer Will Re-Introduce Ballot Access Reform Bill in 2013

November 30th, 2012

Pennsylvania State Senator Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) said in his recent e-mail newsletter to constituents that he will be re-introducing his ballot access reform bill. Thanks to Tom McLaughlin for this news.

National Public Radio Station in Fresno Explores Effects of California’s Top-two Law on Minor Parties

November 30th, 2012

The National Public Radio Station in Fresno, California, here explores the effect of California’s Proposition 14 (the top-two open primary) on California’s minor parties. Thanks to Mike Feinstein for the link.

Over 425,000 California Voters Voted for President but Left U.S. Senate Blank

November 30th, 2012

California still hasn’t counted all its ballots from November 6, 2012. So far, there are 426,876 more votes cast for President than for U.S. Senate. For President, voters had a choice of six presidential candidates listed on the ballot, plus write-in space. But for U.S. Senate, they could only vote for a Democrat and a Republican, with no write-in space.

Of course, it is normal for some voters to vote for President and then no other offices in California and all other states. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to believe that many more votes would have been cast for U.S. Senate in California this year if voters had had more choices.

D.C. City Council President Submits Bill to Legalize Out-of-District Petitioners

November 29th, 2012

Washington, D.C. city council president Phil Mendelson has introduced a bill to legalize petitioners who don’t live in the District of Columbia. See this story. As the story notes, the bill is prompted by the pending Libertarian Party lawsuit against the District’s ban. The case has not been adjudicated yet, and if the bill passes, the lawsuit will be moot. The Center for Competitive Democracy and attorney Oliver Hall had filed the case. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

New U.S. House of Representatives Will Contain 234 Republicans and 201 Democrats

November 29th, 2012

The final U.S. House race has been determined. The North Carolina 7th district, in the southeast part of the state, re-elected Democrat Mike McIntyre with 168,695 votes. His Republican opponent, David Rouzer, received 168,041 votes. See this story. Only those two candidates appeared on the ballot.

Louisiana will hold a run-off election next month between two incumbent Republicans, so although the identity of every member of the U.S. House is still not known, the party lineup is now known.

There have been news article mentioning that Democrats running for the U.S. House received more votes nationwide than Republicans did, but until all the votes across the nation have been counted, this is not confirmed. Most states still haven’t finished their official vote tallies. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

November 2012 Ballot Access News Print Edition

November 29th, 2012

Ballot Access News
November 1, 2012 – Volume 28, Number 6


This issue was printed on tan paper.


Table of Contents

  1. BALLOT ACCESS VICTORIES IN CALIFORNIA, PENNSYLVANIA
  2. CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR VETOES HARMFUL BILL
  3. GARY JOHNSON’S NEW IDEA FOR GETTING INTO CPD DEBATES
  4. LAWSUIT NEWS
  5. BOOK REVIEW: INDEPENDENTS RISING
  6. ANOTHER POLITICAL SCIENTIST ANALYZES TOP-TWO PRIMARIES
  7. LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT
  8. NO DEM-REP CONTEST IN 40% OF STATE LEGISLATIVE RACES
  9. CHATTANOOGA NEWSPAPER ENDORSES GARY JOHNSON
  10. GREEN NOMINEES ARRESTED, SHACKLED FOR EIGHT HOURS
  11. AMERICANS ELECT SPENT OVER $11,000,000 ON BALLOT ACCESS IN 2010 AND 2011
  12. INCUMBENT LEGISLATOR TRIES TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS A LIBERTARIAN
  13. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL

Constitution Party Election Board Members, and Republican Members, Block Boulder County, Colorado, from Certifiying Election Results

November 28th, 2012

Three political parties in Colorado enjoy the ability to appoint members to county election boards. The three parties are the Democratic, Republican, and Constitution Parties. The Constitution Party is considered a major party under the law because its gubernatorial nominee in 2010 polled over 10% of the vote. According to this story, in Boulder County, the Constitution and Republican county election board members voted not to certify the county’s results, because they are dissatisfied with some of the procedures used on election day.

Steven Maviglio Analyzes California’s 2012 Top-Two Primary Experience

November 28th, 2012

Steven Maviglio has this commentary about the California 2012 election, including comments about how California’s top-two system worked. Maviglio is a former Press Secretary for former Governor Gray Davis, and a former aide to two members of Congress, and a former member of the Clinton administration. He runs a public affairs-campaign firm called Forza Communications.

Illinois House Unanimously Passes Bill Allowing More Time between Congressional Vacancy and Special Election

November 28th, 2012

On November 28, the Illinois House unanimously passed a bill to allow the vacancy in the U.S. House, 2nd district, to be filled in April instead of March. See this story.

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Welcome to the OFFICIAL online home of Ballot Access News, a non-partisan newsletter reporting on the trials and tribulations of folks trying to put candidates on the ballot in the United States of America. There are many surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in this country, which the average voter has no knowledge or conception of; part of our purpose here (besides reporting on progress made) is to report on these restrictive ballot access laws so that more people are aware of them. I hope you find these materials interesting and exciting; if you do, you can support the newsletter by subscribing!

Ballot Access News is edited and published by Richard Winger, the nation's leading expert on ballot access legal issues.

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  • Politics, Soviet-style by S. Philip Gordon, regarding recent ballot access issues in Georgia – the US state, not the Russian territority!

Extra Features:

Other information:

  • Here's how to subscribe to Ballot Access News!

  • Here's information on Presidential Ballot Access as well as the vote totals of recent Presidential elections.

  • Here are some other sites which may also be of interest:

    Project Vote-Smart

    Project Vote Smart is a citizens' organization dedicated to serving all Americans with accurate and unbiased information for electoral decision-making. It was inaugerated in 1992 by former US Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and other leaders. Its webpage offers information about all ballot-listed candidates for all federal and state office.
    [Added:040729]

    The ACE Project
    An interesting site concerning itself with the "Administration and Cost of Elections", including issues of fairness and regulatory approaches in various countries. They seem to be almost blind to the ways that third parties in the USA are harmed by campaign finance rules crafted for the problems characteristic of the larger parties, or the ways that third parties would be disenfranchised by various proposed rules, but this is nevertheless a useful resource, particularly for the international comparisons it makes.
    [Added:001206]

    "Unofficial" B.A.N. Page

    At first, it looks like there's not much here. But then you follow the "Charts" link, and click on one of the listed candidates, and you'll get some truly wonderful nationwide maps of voting patterns.
    [Checked:991014]

    Third Party Central

    Collects lots of good information and links relating to various third parties into one convenient location. Nice set of writings on why one should vote third-party.
    [Checked:991014]

    Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

    A surprisingly complete listing of votes cast in Presidential elections, including numerous third-party candidates and nice maps of vote distribution by state and (on the individual state pages) by county.
    [New-URL:010309]

    D.C.'s Political Report

    Very good presentation of candidate and party information, including virtually every known third-party group in the USA. Election results, candidate information, etc.
    [Updated:991214]

    Center for Voting and Democracy

    Folks concerned with alternative voting systems, and related issues, from a moderately leftist perspective. Useful articles describing how better systems of voting and electing actually work.
    [Added:000823]

The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.