Ballot Access News

On July 25, the Third Circuit set a briefing schedule in Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, 13-1952. The parties’ first brief is due September 3, 2013. This is the case that challenges Pennsylvania’s unique challenge-system that puts petitioning groups at risk of huge court fees if their petitions are found insufficient. The U.S. District Court had ruled that the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties don’t have standing to challenge the system, which was an absurd conclusion give that the Constitution Party withdrew its 2012 petition because it was afraid of the possibility of the financial risk.

On July 15, Gary Stein, an independent candidate for the New Jersey legislature, sued in state court to overturn the ballot design used in Atlantic County. The county puts the Republican nominees in a party column head “Republican” in big letters, and treats Democratic nominees in a similar fashion. All other candidates are placed in a third column, headed, “By petition”. See this story.

The U.S. Census Bureau has placed a very useful research tool on the internet. “My congressional district” lets anyone choose any particular U.S. House district. Then, one can see a small map of that district, and click on links to know population characteristics for that district. That includes sex, age categories, race and ethnicity, ancestry, percentage of veterans in the district’s population, percentage of disabled individuals, how many moved into the district in the last year and where they moved from, data on employment, housing, income, and education. Thanks to Doug Hess for the link.