BALLOT ACCESS BILLS INTRODUCED IN NINE STATES

During January, bills to improve ballot access laws were introduced in at least nine states. Similar bills are coming in other states in February.

Florida: HB 25 and SB 388 relax the existing law that restricts whom political parties may nominate. Existing law, since 2011, has told parties that they can’t nominate anyone who was a member of another party during the year before the filing deadline. The bills change that to six months before the general election. One of these two identical bills is expected to pass, because the Governor and the Secretary of State support the bills. The bills make many other election law changes not related to ballot access. They ease the restrictions on organizations that do voter registration drives, and add more hours for early voting.

Hawaii: State Senator Les Ihara (D-Honolulu) has introduced SB 223, to permit write-in voting in all Hawaii elections, in both the primary and the general election. Hawaii is one of only four states that has never permitted write-in voting. Ihara has been in the Senate since 1994, and is Majority Policy Leader.

Massachusetts: on January 28, Representative Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) introduced two bills. One cuts the number of signatures in half, both for primary petitions and for general election petitions. Petitions for Governor, U.S. Senator, and President would drop from 10,000 to 5,000. The less important statewide offices would drop from 5,000 to 2,500. U.S. House would drop from 2,000 to 1,000. The two bills don’t have bill numbers yet.

The other bill eases the definition of a qualified political party. It lowers the number of registered voters for a party that is trying to qualify by increasing its registration from 1% to one-half of 1%.

The bill lowers the vote test for a party to remain on the ballot from 3% for any statewide race, to one-half of 1%. If it passes in that form, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party would each be back on the ballot for 2014, since each of them polled over one-half of 1% for President in 2012.

Montana: HB 120, the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, makes three improvements: (1) it moves the independent petition deadline (for all office other than President) from March to May; (2) it permits an independent candidate for President or Vice-President to be on the ballot, even if that candidate had been a partisan candidate within the preceding year; (3) it restores primaries for any qualified party that has at least two candidates for the same office.

Last year the old law was interpreted to mean that the ballot-qualified Libertarian Party could not have its own primary, even though it had a contested race for its U.S. Senate nomination. As a result, the Libertarian Party was faced with a November ballot in which both Libertarians appeared. Fortunately, one of the two then withdrew.

On January 25, HB 120 passed the House Administration Committee.

Nebraska: LB 349, proposed by the Secretary of State, eliminates the restriction that says voters can’t sign a petition for an independent presidential candidate if that voter voted in the primary. No other ballot access petitions in Nebraska have this restriction. The bill also lets independent presidential candidates circulate their petition as early as they wish; current law says they can’t start until May. If this bill passes, Texas will be the only state that won’t let primary voters sign minor party or independent petitions.

Oklahoma: Representative Jeffrey Hickman (R-Alva) has introduced HB 2134, to cut the number of signatures for a newly-qualifying party from 5% of the last vote cast, to exactly 5,000 signatures. Hickman is influential and in the last session was Speaker Pro Tempore.

Senator Rob Johnson (R-Kingfisher) has introduced SB 668, which lowers the same petition from 5% of the last vote cast, to 5% of the last gubernatorial vote. SB 668 would not have any effect on the number of signatures required in a presidential year, but the bill does ease the requirement for midterm years.

Pennsylvania: State Senator Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) has introduced SB 195, to vastly ease the law on how a party gains the ability to nominate candidates without a petition. Current law requires a party to have registration of 15% of the state total. That is so draconian, if the same law existed in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and D.C., the Republican Party wouldn’t be on the ballot automatically; and if it existed in Utah and Idaho, the Democratic Party wouldn’t be on automatically. The bill says a party need not petition for its nominees if it has registration of one-twentieth of 1%. If it were enacted, the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties would be on the ballot. The bill also eases independent candidate petitions.

Virginia: on January 23, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee passed SB 690 by 10-5. The bill lowers the number of signatures for presidential candidates from 10,000 signatures to 5,000. It applies to candidates petitioning to get on the presidential primary ballot, and also minor party and independent candidates petitioning for the November ballot. The bill’s sponsor is Senator Richard Black (R-Leesburg).

Other ballot access bills are HB 1898, which repeals the ban on out-of-state circulators; HB 2213, which lowers the number of signatures for all statewide candidates (in both primaries and general elections) from 10,000 to 5,000; SB 1049, which says inactive voters may sign ballot access petitions; and HB 1899, which sets up an administrative appeals process when a candidate is told his or her petition lacks enough valid signatures.

Wyoming: Representative Kendell Kroeker (R-Evansville) and Senator Cale Case (R-Lander) have introduced HB 96, which makes it easier for a party to remain on the ballot. Current law requires a party to poll 2% for a statewide race every two yea
rs; the bill would change the vote test so it must only be met every four years.

Bills to repeal the straight-ticket device are pending in three states:

Indiana: State Senator Mike Delph (R-Carmel) introduced SB 51.

Iowa: Representative Peter Cownie (R-West Des Moines) introduced HF 13. As far as is known, this is the first attempt to repeal the device in Iowa.

Rhode Island: the repeal bills are S44 (sponsored by three Republican, one Democratic, and one independent State Senator), and H5072 (sponsored by three Democrats and two Republicans). Proponents of the bills have a web page, masterlever.org. The web page shows that already, 38 House members (out of 75) and 12 Senators (out of 38) have already said they will vote for the bills.

The American Journal of PoliticalScience published a scholarly article in February 2012, showing that straight-ticket devices cause voter errors. See "The Impact of Ballot Type on Voter Errors" in Volume 56, issue 3.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled that names on petitions are valid, even when the signer uses a shortened form of his or her first name. The Court reversed the Commonwealth Court, which had invalidated these signatures: one in which the signer signed "Ed" instead of Edward; on with "Cindy" instead of Cynthia; one with "Ray" instead of Raymond; one with "Don" instead of Donald. The decision, In re Nomination Petition of Gales, has just been reported, 54 A.3d 855.

Georgia hasn’t had any party (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) on the ballot, with its party label, in a regularly-scheduled U.S. House election, since 1942. But all other states have had such minor party candidates on the ballot for U.S. House during the 21^st century, if the year 2000 is deemed to be part of the 21^st century.

The chart below tells when each state last had a minor party candidate on the ballot, with its party label, in a regularly-scheduled U.S. House election.

The U.S. Supreme Court, on three occasions, has said that a ballot access law that is so difficult it is virtually never used is probably unconstitutional. However, so far, the lower federal courts in Georgia have not been willing to strike down the Georgia ballot access law. In Coffield v Kemp, 599 F.3d 1276 (2010), the 11^th circuit noted the point, but said perhaps no one has qualified in Georgia because no one has tried. At that point in the case, it was too late to introduce evidence about the times that minor party and independent candidates did try very hard to get on the ballot, so another lawsuit may be needed to get that into the record.

Alabama	2010
Alaska	2012
Arizona	2012
Arkansas	2012
California	2010
Colorado	2012
Connecticut	2012
Delaware	2012
Florida	2012
Georgia	1942
Hawaii	2010
Idaho	2012
Illinois	2012
Indiana	2012
Iowa	2012
Kansas	2012
Kentucky	2012
Louisiana	2012
Maine	2004
Maryland	2012
Massachusetts	2012
Michigan	2012
Minnesota	2012
Mississippi	2012
Missouri	2012
Montana	2012
Nebraska	2004
Nevada	2012
New Hampshire	2012
New Jersey	2012
New Mexico	2000
New York	2012
North Carolina	2012
North Dakota	2012
Ohio	2012
Oklahoma	2000
Oregon	2012
Pennsylvania	2 012
Rhode Island	2004
South Carolina	2012
South Dakota	2006
Tennessee	2012
Texas	2012
Utah	2012
Vermont	2012
Virginia	2012
Washington	2004
West Virginia	2010
Wisconsin	2012
Wyoming	2012

California: on January 25, an Alameda County Superior Court ruled that the minor party lawsuit against the the top-two system can continue, if the minor parties file an amended complaint that includes information about how the top-two system injured minor party voters during the 2012 election. Rubin v Bowen, RG11-605301. The case had been filed in 2011 by the Green, Libertarian, and Peace & Freedom Parties.

D.C.: on January 4, the Libertarian Party asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether jurisdictions that say that write-in presidential candidates may file a declaration of write-in candidacy, must then count the write-in votes for such candidates. Libertarian Party v District of Columbia Board of Elections, 12-836. The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) helped pay for the brief. Thanks to all who have contributed to COFOE.

Georgia: the Constitution Party and the Green Party have now been waiting for over six months, since they requested a rehearing in their lawsuit against Georgia’s ballot access law for minor party and independent presidential candidates. It is very unusual for any federal court to let a request for a rehearing remain pending that long. Green Party of Georgia v Kemp, northern district, 1:12cv1822.

federal law (1): the U.S. Supreme Court will probably reveal on February 19 whether it will hear either of these campaign finance cases: (1) Danielczyk v U.S., 12-579, on whether it is constitutional to ban corporations from making any contributions to federal candidates; (2) McCutcheon v FEC, 12-536, on whether it is constitutional to prevent an individual from contributing more than $46,200 in any given two-year period to various candidates for federal office. Plaintiffs include the Republican National Committee, and an individual who wishes to donate more than $46,200 to various Republican candidates.

federal law (2): on January 14, the D.C. Circuit held oral arguments in Nader v Federal Election Commission, 12-5134. The issue is whether the FEC should investigate Ralph Nader’s claim that the Democratic National Committee, and some state Democratic Parties, failed to report expenses they incurred in trying to keep Nader off the ballot in 2004. It is believed that the party spent several million dollars on challenging Nader’s ballot status. The three judges seemed to want to find that Nader lacks standing to pursue this case, but no one will know that for sure until the panel issues its opinion.

Colorado: Senator David Balmer (R-Centennial) and Representative Jonathan Singer (D-Longmont) have introduced SB 65, which lets local governments use Approval Voting for their own elections. Approval Voting lets a voter vote for multiple candidates for the same office, even if only one person is being elected. The candidate who receives the most votes wins the election.

Maine: Senator Dick Woodbury (I-Yarmouth) and Representative Janice Cooper (D-Yarmouth) have introduced a bill that would convert the state’s elections, for federal and state office, to Ranked-Choice Voting. The bill doesn’t have a number yet. There is considerable support for the bill because in 2010, Governor Paul LePage was elected with only 38.1% of the total vote, and most neutral observers agree that if ranked-choice voting or approval voting had been used, someone else would have won.

The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis, by Joshua M. Glasser, 380 pages, 2012.

This is the first history of the 1972 Democratic Party’s nomination of Thomas Eagleton for vice-president, and how it came to be that Eagleton resigned from the ticket 18 days later and was replaced by R. Sargent Shriver. Eagleton had been treated for depression some years before he was chosen to be the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential nominee, and this had not been known by the party when he was chosen.

The book describes how Eagleton’s medical history came to the attention of both the Richard Nixon campaign, and the press, immediately after Eagleton was nominated. It reviews expert opinion on whether Eagleton’s depression (which was so serious that he received electric shock therapy) should have been considered reason for him to have declined the nomination.

For election law junkies, it confirms that once Eagleton was nominated, he could not be replaced just because Senator George McGovern, the party’s presidential nominee, wanted him off the ticket. Even the Democratic National Committee, which chose Eagleton’s successor, did not have the authority to replace him. The Democratic Party was dependent on actions of the various state Democratic Parties to notify state election officials that the party’s presidential electors would henceforth be pledged, not to Eagleton for vice-president, but to Shriver.

The party was initially worried that the Missouri Democratic Party would refuse to cooperate (Eagleton was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Missouri, and he was greatly respected and admired by Missouri Democrats). Unfortunately the book is extremely sketchy on this matter, confining these details to a single paragraph on page 261. The legal aspect of the story continues to be relevant in the present day, and bears on what happened in 2012 when the national office of Americans Elect felt it had the authority to override the wishes of state officers of the Americans Elect Party in several states.

~

Libertarian

Wrk Fam

Green

Constitut.

Indpndc

Indp Pty

other(1)

other(2)

indp.

Alaska

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1,841

Arizona

14,073

0

20,614

0

0

0

0

0

8,221

Arkansas

2,180

0

4,308

0

0

0

0

0

15,020

Calif.

0

0

0

0

0

0

25,167

0

66,239

Colorado

112,163

0

1,058

18,109

0

0

0

0

7,587

Conn.

0

24,299

1,323

0

0

16,047

85

93

134

Del.

3,116

0

0

0

0

268

0

0

0

Florida

53,193

0

20,496

0

0

51,258

0

0

135,172

Georgia

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

9,973

Hawaii

860

0

3,143

0

0

0

0

0

0

Idaho

3,563

0

0

3,565

0

0

0

0

4,206

Illinois

0

0

0

1,483

0

0

0

0

33,399

Indiana

25,774

0

0

2,071

0

0

3,614

0

0

Iowa

888

0

0 < p align="RIGHT">0

0

0

0

0

22,666

Kansas

5,241

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

7,411

Kentucky

0

0

2,110

0

0

0

946

0

13,755

Maine

0

0

5,410

0

0

0

0

0

17,754

Mass.

2,180

0

6,563

0

0

0

0

0

43,014

Michigan

28,842

0

4,820

2,738

0

0

0

0

7,949

Minn.

0

0

0

3,626

13,585

0

0

0

3,726

Missouri

10,415

0

0

2,700

0

0 < p align="RIGHT">0

0

7,206

Montana

4,012

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4,371

Nevada

0

0

0

11,620

0

0

0

0

0

N. Hamp.

3,896

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4,729

N. Mex.

2,477

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3,715

N. York

4,325

174,137

9,103

0

175,527

0

277,922

0

7,352

No. Car.

19,182

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4,169

No. Dak.

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Ohio

15,007

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

19,423

Okla.

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Oregon

16,782

0

2,381

14,756

0

758

0

0

0

Penn.

7,686

0

0

4,453

0

0

0

0

6,944

R.I.

0

0

0

0

0

0

1,862

0

21,467

S.Car.

5,243

7,836

3,932

0

0

0

0

0

93,338

S.Dak.

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4,037

Tenn.

4,060

0

11,124

0

0

0

0

0

37,665

Texas

230,008

0

53,189

0

0

0

0

0

0

Utah

6,804

0

528

11,591

0

0

3,741

40

935

Vermont

0

0

0

0

0

0

10,284

910

16,201

Wash.

0

0

14,333

0

0

0

20,425

0

93,874

W.Va.

0

0

5,994

1,300

0

0

1,110

0

1,201

Wisc.

12,357

0

7,323

0

0

0

0

0

8,419

Wyoming

1,520

0

0

1,653

0

0

194

0

1,927

TOTAL

595,847

206,272

177,752

79,665

189,112

68,331

345,350

1,043

735,040

In 2010, the national totals for State House were: Libertarian 530,648; Green 172,002; Working Families 160,250; Constitution 97,348; independent candidates 601,732; other parties 526,641.

In 2008, the national totals were: Libertarian 724,601; Working Families 180,430; Green 141,215; Constitution 106,009; other parties 523,007; independent candidates unknown.

Parties in the "Other(1)" column are Peace & Freedom in California; We the People in Connecticut; Socialist in Indiana; Descendants of American Slaves in Kentucky; Conservative in New York; Moderate in Rhode Island; Justice in Utah; Progressive in Vermont; Socialist Alternative in Washington; American Third Position in West Virginia; and Country in Wyoming. Parties in the "Other(2)" column are Christian Center in Connecticut; Americans Elect in Utah; in Vermont, 530 Liberty Union and 380 Justice."Indpndc" = Independence Party; "Indp Pty" = Independent Party.

~	Libertarian	Wrk Fam	Green	Constitn	Indpndc	Indp Pty	other(1)	other(2)	indp.
Alaska	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7,202
Arizona	26,701	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	35,485
Arkansas	9,068	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,540
Calif.	0	0	0	0	0	0	88,658	0	0
Colorado	49,872	0	0	13,483	0	0	0	0	1,828
Conn.	665	27,840	6,054	0	0	23,079	317	0	0
Del.	2,887	0	0	0	0	4,734	0	0	0
Florida	64,863	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	55,018
Georgia	0	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hawaii	0	0	4,934	0	0	0	0	0	0
Idaho	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7,294
Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Indiana	6,512	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Iowa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,396
Kansas	11,141	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,291	0	0
Maine	0	0	5,185	0	0	0	0	0	40,084
Mass.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16,228
Minn.	0	0	0	0	6,102	0	0	0	5,196
Missouri	3,351	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Montana	1,662	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nevada	0	0	0	21,896	0	0	0	0	0
N. Hamp.	2,387	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,378
N. Mex.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11,899
N. York	0	148,472	30,939	0	235,893	0	321,494	0	3,078
No. Car.	15,749	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No. Dak.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio	29,974	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Okla.	7,112	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5,677
Oregon	7,203	0	0	0	0	10,459	0	0	0
Penn.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13,946
R.I.	614	0	0	0	0	0	523	0	25,994
S.Car.	0	2,772	1,158	1,596	0	0	0	0	69,784
S.Dak.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6,700
Tenn.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Texas	355,249	0	31,840	0	0	0	0	0	0
Utah	1,798	0	0	4,647	0	0	0	0	0
Vermont	0	0	5,618	0	0	0	46,983	10,576	24,770
Wash.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23,455
W.Va.	0	0	0	6,847	0	0	0	0	0
Wisc.	2,964	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10,154
Wyoming	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,753	0	0
TOTAL	599,772	179,084	85,743	85,743	241,995	15,577	464,019	10,576	372,106

In 2010, the national totals for State Senate were: Libertarian 375,367; Working Families 173,714; Constitution 45,146; Tea 36,998; Green 17,972; other parties 456,870; independent candidates 302,051.

In 2008, the national totals for State Senate were: Libertarian 384,552; Working Families 190,659; Constitution 78,992; Green 65,150; other parties 519,221; independent candidates unknown.

Parties in the "Other(1)" column are Peace & Freedom in California; We the People in Connecticut; Descendants of American Slaves in Kentucky; Conservative in New York; Moderate in Rhode Island; Progressive in Vermont; and Country in Wyoming. Parties in the "Other(2)" column, in Vermont, are Tea 8,362 and Liberty Union 2,214.

Two minor parties members who were re-elected to non-partisan office in November 2012 were elevated by their peers to higher positions during January 2013. John Inks, a Libertarian re-elected to the Mountain View, California city council, was chosen Mayor by the Council. Richard Hervey, a Green re-elected to the Corvallis, Oregon city council, was named City Council President.

The Justice Party, formed in late 2011 by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, has postponed its upcoming national convention. It was to have been held in Oakland, California, February 22-24, but now it will be held in the fall in a city to be determined.

The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) has two new participating organizations on its national board, Fairvote (which promotes alternate voting systems), and the Peace & Freedom Party.

The Federal Election Commission made additional primary season matching fund payments to Gary Johnson’s campaign during December 2012 and January 2013, so his final total for the entire year is $632,016.75.

On January 11, the Vermont Secretary of State released these presidential write-ins: Ron Paul 717, Jill Stein 594, Virgil Goode 13, Roseanne Barr 9.

Georgia held special legislative elections in four districts on January 8. Although regularly-scheduled elections require minor parties to submit a petition of 5% of the registered voters, no petitions are needed for any candidates in special elections. Libertarians ran in two of the special elections. In the State Senate, 11^th district, Jeffrey G. Bivins ran against five Republicans and polled 6.48%, placing fourth. In the State Senate, 30^th district, James M. Camp ran against one Republican and polled 12.4%.

Both Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, the presidential and vice-presidential nominees of the Green Party, were tried and acquitted on a charge of trespassing on January 25. They had protested at the Philadelphia Fannie Mae office. Stein was arrested three times during her presidential campaign; the other two arrests were at one of the presidential debates, and in Texas concerning a gas pipeline.

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