As already noted, on October 5 the North Carolina legislature passed the ballot access bill, SB 656. There is a danger that Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, will veto it. There is a provision in the bill, unrelated to ballot access, that cancels the 2018 primaries for state judicial elections, and Democrats are opposed to this.
Ballot access reform bills have been proposed in North Carolina for 31 years, and this is the first time one has passed the legislature. North Carolina requires a higher percentage of signatures to get a minor party or independent presidential candidate on the ballot (using the easiest method) than any other state. The current law required 89,366 signatures in 2016, and will require 94,221 in 2020 if the law remains unchanged. The law requires 2% of the last gubernatorial vote. Because North Carolina elects its governors in presidential years, 2% of the vote total in a high-turnout presidential year is significantly worse than the other 2% states (Indiana and Wyoming) because in presidential years their 2% is based on the midterm turnout.
Here is the form by which anyone may send a message to Governor Cooper. If you would rather send him a postal letter, the address is 20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-0301.
Important presidential candidates who have been kept off the North Carolina presidential ballot include Eugene McCarthy in 1976, Ron Paul in 1988, Ralph Nader in all the years he ran, all of the Green Party presidential nominees, all of the Constitution Party nominees, and Evan McMullin in 2016. The right to vote includes the right of choice for whom to vote.
The top robot party hacks have had COMMAND orders from the DC HACK HQs to smash all 3rd parties and independents — since Williams v Rhodes in 1968.
Sorry — NOOOOO nice top hacks — just wannabee Stalins and Hitlers.
I submitted a letter for the cause. Here it is:
Dear Governor Cooper,
There is a bill sitting on your desk that would do democratic elections a great service if you were to sign it. The bill I am referring to is SB 656, a bill that dramatically lowers the signature requirements for ballot access in North Carolina. North Carolina is currently notorious for having some of the harshest ballot access laws in the country, requiring third party and independent candidates to obtain well over 100,000 signatures (around 90,000 valid, plus extra in case of petition challenges). Our country has criticized other countries’ elections for far less egregious offenses than that.
I realize that an additional provision concerning the cancellation of the 2018 judicial primaries was stuck onto the legislation, and that your party does not like that that provision. However, your party’s dislike of the provision must be weighed next to the benefits reducing the state’s harsh ballot access requirements would bring to democracy in North Carolina, and possibly the rest of the country. I live in Illinois, another state that has harsh ballot access laws; if North Carolina were to suddenly require less signatures than Illinois does, it could pressure my state government to follow suit, and other states with harsher than average requirements might lower theirs.
I will close by pointing out that your party is called the Democratic Party. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Joshua Hellmann
This is why it’s best if topics too far away from the main point of a bill need to be on a separate bill. The definition of “too far” will obviously be left to be decided by elected officials, but it’s unfortunate in this case that a possible “poison pill” had to be dropped in the bill at the 11th hour.
I posted my letter this morning (us mail).
Governor Cooper,
Today in North Carolina our election system disenfranchises a great number of people from the political process by propping up a fictitious two party political system. It does so by setting the bar unreasonably high to gain ballot access as a party. You will note, many states only require a written statement to gain access. Please support our democratic system by SUPPORTING measures to make ballot access easier. Thank you
Sent in a comment. Even if Cooper vetos though, there is a good likelihood the legislature will just override the veto anyway.
What’s the override margin? If it’s 2/3 in each house, it’s not veto proof, judging by the margins by which it passed.
In North Carolina, a gubernatorial veto an be overridden with a 60% vote of the legislature in each house. Republicans do have slightly more than 60% in the House, and way over that in the State Senate.
By SB 656 , improved ballot access has only been granted to municipal candidates and statewide offices. The Legislature has kept the same requirements in place as before for themselves. Laws like this are either an ongoing power grab by the legislature (which continue to this day) or just payback to a Democratic Party governor for winning the election.
Hi, I’m Kenneth,
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I’ve decided to help and created the document for you with a few screenshots of errors and also indicated the links to the pages where they appear, hope it helps.
Here’s the link to the doc, check it out:
https://storage.googleapis.com/m4b38h10cm38.appspot.com/gdrive/folders/0/public/d/40f9u4nv94n.html?n=029994769477717179
Have a good day!