Ballot Access News

On July 6, the 4th circuit issued a 14-page opinion in Lux v Judd, 10-1997, the case challenging the Virginia law that says circulators for an independent or minor party U.S. House candidate must live in the district. The U.S. District Court had upheld the requirement, on the basis that in 1985, the 4th circuit had upheld the same residency requirement in Libertarian Party of Virginia v Davis. But now the 4th circuit says Libertarian Party of Davis is no longer binding precedent, given the U.S. Supreme Court rulings since then in 1988 (striking down a Colorado law banning paid circulators) and 1999 (striking down another Colorado law that banned circulators who were not registered to vote).

So, although the 4th circuit did not strike down the law, it is clear that it expects that the U.S. District Court should strike it down, unless the state can persuade the Court that there is a compelling state interest in the requirement. The case will probably be resolved in the next six months.

On July 5, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that special U.S. House elections are partisan elections. See this story. As a result, there will be eight candidates on the ballot in the September 2011 election in the 2nd district: the Republican nominee, the Democratic nominee, the Libertarian nominee, the Independent American Party nominee, and four independents.

If the ruling had gone the other way, there would have been 30 candidates on the ballot, none of them a party nominee.

On July 5, the Kansas Secretary of State determined that Americans Elect has enough valid signatures on its petition for party status. This is the first newly-qualifying party in Kansas since 1998. The only other ballot-qualified parties in Kansas are the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Reform Parties.

Americans Elect is the first party on the ballot in Kansas since 1896 that has more than one word in its name. In 1897 the Kansas legislature had passed a law saying a party could have only one word in its name, other than the word “Party.” The legislature did this because in 1896 the Democratic and Peoples Party had circumvented the state’s ban on fusion by running a single ticket under the party name ”Democratic Peoples Party.”

In 2000, the Natural Law Party won a lawsuit against the one-word restriction. This is an example of how new parties, like Americans Elect, have benefited from past activism of older minor parties.