Ballot Access News

On April 1, the Alaska Elections Division, which is under the Lieutenant Governor, issued this 52-page report about the 2010 election for U.S. Senate. That election was historic because a write-in candidate was elected. There was a great deal of litigation over the write-ins, and also over other election law ambiguities, which prompted this report.

The Report recommends that voter intent continue to be the standard for determining if a write-in should be counted. However, the report does not specifically mention the controversy over whether a write-in is valid, if the voter who cast the write-in doesn’t know, or forgets, to “X” the box next to the name written in. The Report says that the state should continue to ask write-in candidates to file a declaration of write-in candidacy, and suggests a deadline of 21 days before the election. But the Report says the declaration should be voluntary, not mandatory.

The Report reveals that it cost the state $60,440 dollars to count the 102,334 write-in votes.

See here for an interesting 14 minute You Tube, made by South Carolina Republican activist Edwin Turnage, which explains why the South Carolina Republican Party wants a closed primary for itself. The party recently lost in U.S. District Court over the issue of whether the Constitution allows the state to force the party to use an open primary. The party will soon decide whether to appeal.

The You Tube talk explains that the state law, which lets the party nominate by convention if it wishes, is bogus. The law also says that 3/4ths of the delegates to the state convention must vote in favor of convention nomination, to put that idea into practice. Credentialed delegates who happen not to be on the floor when such a vote takes place are counted as “no” votes, under the state law. The You Tube talk also explains that the party’s biggest reason for desiring a closed primary for itself is the 2012 presidential primary. Because it is unlikely that there will be a South Carolina Democratic presidential primary in 2012, Republicans assume that Democratic voters will vote in the Republican presidential primary and cast a strategic vote for the Republican who is most likely to do poorly in the general election. The talk mentions that suspicion that many South Carolina Democrats have that Alvin Greene, the Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010, was boosted in the Democratic primary by Republican voters who hoped to embarrass the Democratic Party. However, research has shown that few Republicans chose a Democratic primary ballot in 2010 in South Carolina.

The Salt Lake Tribune of April 2 has this editorial, severely criticizing the legislature for recently outlawing electronic signatures on petitions. Earlier, the Utah Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that the existing law permits electronic signatures. The legislature had responded to that court decision by outlawing such signatures.