Texas Democratic Legislator Introduces Bill for Top-Two for State Elections, but not Congressional Elections

February 28th, 2013

Texas Representative Mark Strama (D-Austin) has introduced HB 1842, which would implement a top-two primary for state office, but not county or federal office. The bill has no co-sponsors. Thanks to Patrick Dixon for this news.



Illinois Special Election Will Have Six Candidates on the Ballot; Objector to Three Petitions Withdraws Her Challenges

February 28th, 2013

On February 28, the Illinois voter who had challenged three minor party or independent candidates’ petitions (in the special election to fill the U.S. House vacancy in the 2nd district), withdrew her challenges. Therefore the April ballot will include the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, and Green Parties, along with three independent candidates. The Green nominee is LeAlan Jones. The three independents are Marcus Lewis (who never was challenged and who has been on the ballot all along), Elizabeth Pahlke, and Curtiss Bey.

Now that the major party primaries for this election are over with, the Illinois media is reporting that the Republican nominee, Paul McKinley, was convicted of burglary long ago and served time in prison. See this story. The Democratic nominee is Robin Kelly.

Justice Party files Opening Brief in Vermont Supreme Court in Ballot Access Case

February 28th, 2013

Rocky Anderson filed this brief in the Vermont Supreme Court on February 19. The case is Anderson v State of Vermont, 2012-272. The issue is partly the state’s cumbersome signature-checking procedures, and partly the June deadline for petitions for independent presidential candidates to get on the November ballot.

The Vermont Supreme Court is also considering a challenge to the June petition deadline in connection with office other than President. That case is Trudell v Markowitz, 2011-311. That case is ripe for a decision, but it is possible the Court will issue its opinions on both cases simultaneously, since they are somewhat similar.

Anderson did appear on the Vermont ballot in 2012, because a lower court put him on. The Secretary of State had rejected his petition because some of the town clerks didn’t check the petition in a timely fashion.

The Justice Party has been involved in constitutional ballot access litigation in three states, around the 2012 election. Besides this Vermont case, there is the California case that the party won last year (against the January deadline for qualifying a new party), and the Hawaii case that is pending in federal court (also on the issue of the early deadline).

Five Major Party Members Appear to Have Collected Enough Signatures in Massachusetts Special U.S. Senate Election

February 27th, 2013

News reports indicate that five individuals probably submitted enough signatures to be on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots on April 30, for the special Massachusetts U.S. Senate election. The primaries are on April 30 and the election will be on June 25. The deadline for primary petitions was February 27.

Three Republicans submitted signatures: Dan Winslow submitted approximately 25,000; Gabriel Gomez submitted the same number; Michael Sullivan submitted approximately 20,000. The requirement is 10,000. Two Democrats, both members of the U.S. House, also submitted substantial petitions; they are Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch.

Independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, also need 10,000 signatures, but they aren’t due until early April.

Missouri Constitution Party Nominates Candidate for Special Election, U.S. House, 8th District

February 27th, 2013

On February 21, the Missouri Constitution Party held a nominating convention to choose a candidate for the upcoming special election, U.S. House, 8th district. The party nominated Doug Enyart, owner of Clearwater Forest Consultants and an expert in forestry management. There will be four candidates on the June ballot for this seat; the others will be the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian nominees. No petition is needed for any of them because all four parties are ballot-qualified.

Oklahoma Senate Unanimously Passes Weak Ballot Access Bill

February 27th, 2013

On February 27, the Oklahoma Senate unanimously passed SB 668, which eases ballot access for newly-qualifying parties in midterm years, but does not reduce the number of signatures in presidential years. Current law says the number of signatures is 5% of the last vote cast. If the bill passes in this form, the law would require 5% of the last gubernatorial vote. For 2014, the number of signatures would change from 66,744 to 51,739.

Oklahoma is the only state with a mandatory petition for newly-qualifying parties that is higher than 3% of the last gubernatorial vote.

South Dakota Bill, Permitting Americans Elect to Remove Itself from Ballot, Moves Ahead

February 27th, 2013

On February 27, the South Dakota Senate Local Government Committee passed HB 1018, which lets ballot-qualified parties remove themselves from the ballot. The purpose of this is to enable Americans Elect to terminate its qualified party status. Without the bill, the party would have its own primary in 2014, whether it wants it or not.

The Senate Committee considered an amendment to the bill that would have made it more difficult for all minor parties to remain on the ballot. The amendment to the bill, which was not passed, would have required a party to meet the vote test in presidential election years as well as in midterm years. Current law says a party only loses its status when it fails to get 2.5% for Governor. If the amendment had passed, the vote test would also need to be met for President. There was also some discussion of making the vote test applicable in both presidential and midterm years but saying it only had to be met once every four years, but that idea really wouldn’t have changed the current law and it was also abandoned.

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Suggests that Five Justices Will Vote to Invalidate Section Five’s Coverage Formula

February 27th, 2013

Scotusblog’s eye-witness reporter in the U.S. Supreme Court oral argument (in Shelby County, Alabama v Holder) predicts that five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will vote to invalidate the coverage formula for section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act. If this happens, Congress would be faced with the question of whether to write a new coverage formula. If Congress did nothing, then presumably Section 5 could no longer be enforced. Section five of the Voting Rights Act is the part of the Act that requires certain states and local jurisdictions to get permission from the federal government before changing any election law or practice.

UPDATE: here is the transcript.

Illinois State Board of Elections Hears Petition Challenges in Special Congressional Election on March 7

February 27th, 2013

The Illinois State Board of Elections will hear the petition challenges on March 7, concerning the special U.S. House election, 2nd district. The outcome will determine whether LeAlan Jones, Elizabeth Pahlke, and Curtis Bey, are on the April 2013 ballot. Jones is the Green Party nominee and the other two candidates are independent candidates. Their petitions have been challenged, but there are substantial problems with the challenge. There is some evidence that the challenger did not see the petitions before she challenged. Also it is possible she doesn’t live in the 2nd district, and if she doesn’t, her challenges are not valid.

Hawaii Bill for Election-Day Registration Moves Ahead

February 27th, 2013

On February 26, the Hawaii House Judiciary Committee passed HB 321, which permits voters to register on election day. Similar bills are pending in the Senate. SB 854 would also permit election-day registration. However, it also provides that most voters would vote by mail, starting in 2016. The Senate is also considering SB 857, which only deals with election-day registration.

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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.