Pennsylvania ACLU Takes Carl Stevenson Ballot Access Case to Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Carl Stevenson is an independent candidate for Pennsylvania legislature.  He was challenged off the ballot on the grounds that some of his signatures had been collected by someone who doesn’t live in the same district.  The Commonwealth Court removed him from the ballot, even though in 2002 a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania had struck down the requirement that circulators must live in the same district.

According to this story, the ACLU of Pennsylvania is now representing Stevenson, and has appealed his lawsuit to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Florida Tea Party Legislative Candidate Sues Secretary of State Over Ballot Exclusion Caused by Paperwork Error

Recently, John A. Ferentinos filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Secretary of State, over his exclusion from the ballot.  He wishes to run as a Tea Party candidate for State Senate, 26th district.  He paid his filing fee and submitted candidacy forms, but he was kept off the ballot because he forgot to fill in the name of his bank on the form “Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidates.”

The only other person running for that seat is the incumbent, Senator Michael Haridopolos.  Ferentinos notes that Senator Haridopolos also failed to complete a question on his form.  Senator Haridopolos apparently failed to check a box that asks if the bank account is a primary account or a secondary account.

Ferentinos also notes that his failure to put the name of his bank on that form did not cause election officials any harm, because they had his filing fee check and obviously the bank’s name was on the check.  The lawsuit is Ferentinos v Roberts, in the middle district, in Orlando, 6:10-cv-1251.  His odds are not good because the state will probably argue that he should have filed the lawsuit back in June or July.  He was notified that he was off the ballot in late June.  Thanks to Darryl Mentro for this news.

Minnesota Independence Party Gubernatorial Candidate at 13% in Poll

On August 31, the MPR News-Humphrey Institute released a poll for the Minnesota gubernatorial race.  It shows:  Republican Tom Emmer 34%; Democratic-Farmer-Labor Mark Dayton 34%, Independence Party Tom Horner 13%, undecided or other 19%.  See this story.

Horner, the Independence Party nominee, is already higher in this poll than Jesse Ventura was in similar polls at this point in the 1998 election cycle.  Ventura was at 10% in polls in mid-September 1998, but he won with 37%.  At that time the name of the Independence Party of Minnesota was the Reform Party.

Minnesota has a very active group working for Instant-Runoff Voting.

New York City Voters Will Vote on Whether to Ease Ballot Access

On November 2, voters in New York City will vote on two amendments to the city charter.  The second question requires voters to cast a “Yes” or “No” vote on seven separate aspects of election law, including easier ballot access for candidates for city office.  See the details here.

The first amendment would restore two-term term limits for members of the city council, and the city’s executive elected positions.

These measures were put on the ballot by the Charter Review Commission.  That body heard lots of testimony in favor of making New York city elections non-partisan, but the Commission didn’t put that issue on the ballot.

Arizona Democratic Party Files Complaint Against Three Republicans who Recruited Candidates to File in Green Party Primary

On August 30, the Arizona Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney, and the Maricopa County Attorney, saying that three Republicans recruited various people to file in the Green Party primary.  See this story.  Here is the 12-page letter.

On the one hand, the activity complained of certainly is not illegal, notwithstanding the arguments made in the letter.  On the other hand, the activity is harmful to the Green Party, which had already been complaining about the activity.  The recruited candidates are not sincere and have no desire to campaign or to meet with Green Party leaders.  Thanks to Bradley Jansen for the link.

Michigan Tea Party Loses Lawsuit to Get Itself on Ballot

On August 30, the Michigan State Court of Appeals ruled that “The Tea Party” should not be added to the ballot because of discrepancies over its name.  In many official documents it had said its name is “The Tea Party”.  But on the petition sheets, the name of the party is “Tea Party”.  See this story.  Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.  The decision doesn’t appear to be on the Court’s web page yet.  UPDATE:  the party says it will appeal to the State Supreme Court.

The Tea Party movement had not created the party that submitted the petition.  Considerable evidence showed that the petition had been circulated and paid for by groups and individuals associated with the Democratic Party.  Although the awareness of that might have influenced the judges’ attitude toward the case, factors like that are separate from the legal issues in this case.