March 2022 Ballot Access News Print Edition

Ballot Access News
March 2022 – Volume 37, Number 10

This issue was printed on blue paper.


Table of Contents

  1. THIRD CIRCUIT STRIKES DOWN PENNSYLVANIA BAN ON OUT-OF-STATE CIRCULATORS IN PRIMARIES
  2. ALASKA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TOP-FOUR, BUT DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY
  3. INITIATIVE BALLOT ACCESS WINS
  4. MORE INITIATIVE NEWS
  5. BALLOT ACCESS BILLS
  6. NEBRASKA BILL TO MAKE LEGISLATURE PARTISAN
  7. BILLS TO ALTER PRIMARIES
  8. OTHER ELECTION BILLS
  9. BILLS THAT BAN RANKED CHOICE VOTING
  10. NEW ILLINOIS BALLOT ACCESS LAWSUIT
  11. 2022 PETITION REQUIREMENTS PERMITTED UNDER JENNESS v FORTSON
  12. 2022 PETITIONING FOR STATEWIDE OFFICE
  13. MOST MINOR PARTY WEBSITES ARE SLOW TO POST STATEMENTS ABOUT UKRAINE
  14. ARKANSAS LIBERTARIANS NOMINATE 39 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES
  15. WYOMING LEGISLATURE ALLOWS LIBERTARIAN PARTY TO FORM A CAUCUS
  16. REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE VOTES TO CUT TIES WITH COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
  17. FORMER MISSOURI SENATOR ADVOCATES FOR AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR SENATE IN 2022
  18. EVAN McMULLAN RAISES $1,000,000 IN LAST THREE MONTHS
  19. MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE SENDS MASS MAILING TO VOTERS WHO WERE FORMERLY LIBERTARIAN MEMBERS
  20. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL

THIRD CIRCUIT STRIKES DOWN PENNSYLVANIA BAN ON OUT-OF-STATE CIRCULATORS IN PRIMARIES

DECISION ONLY APPLIES TO CIRCULATORS FROM THE SAME PARTY

On February 24, the Third Circuit issued an opinion in Benezet Consulting v Secretary of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 20-2976, concerning the ban on out-of-state circulators for primary petitions. However, the decision only applies to out-of-state petitioners who say they are members of the same party as the candidate for whom they are working.

The decision is by Judge L. Felipe Restrepo, a Obama appointee. It is also signed by Judge Theodore McKee, a Clinton appointee; and Judge Jane Roth, a Bush Jr. appointee. The decision will be published. The lower court had also struck down the law, but restricted the holding to the 2020 election only, which made it effectively meaningless. The Third Circuit decision says the opinion applies to future primary elections.

The decision will be useful in the other pending lawsuits over out-of-state circulators, which are pending in Maine (for initiatives), Montana (for initiatives). It will also help with lawsuits that will soon be filed in New York for candidate petitions, and North Dakota for initiatives.

The reason the new ruling only helps petitioners who say they are in the same party as the party of the candidate they are working for, is that the state says if a petitioner who was not a member of the party could work, that would violate the freedom of association of that political party. In Pennsylvania, only the Democratic and Republican Parties have primaries; a party needs registration of 15% of the state total to qualify for its own primary.

The Pennsylvania ban on out-of-state circulators in general elections had already been struck down in U.S. District Court in 2015, in Green Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele.


ALASKA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TOP-FOUR, BUT DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY

On January 19, the Alaska Supreme Court released a two-page order in Kohlhaas v State, the case over the top-four initiative that the voters passed in November 2020. The order says system does not violate the State Constitution, and says the Court will explain later. So far the explanation has not appeared.


INITIATIVE BALLOT ACCESS WINS

Recently, State Supreme Courts in Michigan and Missouri struck down laws that made it very difficult to qualify statewide initiative or referendum petitions.

Michigan: on January 24, the State Supreme Court struck down a 2018 law that says no more than 15% of the signatures submitted could come from a single U.S. House district. This meant that once a certain number of voters from a particular district had signed the petition, any more signatures from the same district are not valid. League of Women Voters of Michigan v Secretary of State, 163711.

Missouri: on February 8, the State Supreme Court struck down a 1997 law that shortened the amount of time for circulation of a statewide referendum petition. No Bans on Choice v Ashcroft, SC98879. Before 1997, such petitions had at least 90 days to circulate. But in 1997, the legislature passed a law saying that the petition couldn’t circulate until the Attorney General and the Secretary of State had chosen the "official ballot title". Sometimes that left as few as fourteen days to collect approximately 100,000 valid signatures. The vote was 5-2.


MORE INITIATIVE NEWS

Florida: on January 21, a federal lawsuit was filed against the new ban on paying circulators on a per-signature basis. Florida Right to Pray Together v Lee, n.d., 4:22cv-33. The lawsuit also challenges the new law requiring that the names and addresses of paid circulators be printed on the initiative petition sheets, and the law requiring paid circulators to register with the Secretary of State before they can work.

Illinois: on February 15, proponents of a statewide initiative filed a lawsuit in state court to win the right to collect electronic signatures. Wagner v White, Cook County Circuit Court, 22CH285.

Mississippi: on February 8, the House passed HC39 by 92-26. It restores the statewide initiative process, which had been invalidated by the State Supreme Court in 2021. The old law was struck down because it had a fatal flaw in its language; it said signatures are needed in all five of the state’s U.S. House districts, but for the last twenty years the state has only had four U.S. House seats. The old initiative process was only to amend the State Constitution, not to propose laws. The new process, as described in the bill, creates an initiative process to amend statutes, but not the Constitution.

Montana: on February 9, the Ninth Circuit heard Pierce v Jacobsen, 21-35173. This is the case over the ban on out-of-state circulators. The lower court had upheld the law. The oral argument went very well for the plaintiffs. The case also challenges the ban on paying circulators-per-signatures, and it is difficult to predict how the court will rule on that. The state said at oral argument that it would be legal for initiative proponents to pay a $10,000 bonus to a circulator who collects at least 10,000 signatures. That concession, of course, makes the ban less restrictive.

Ohio: on February 10, proponents of initiatives asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case. It concerns whether Ohio should have given ballot access relief during the covid-19 health crisis. Thompson v DeWine, 21-1120. The Court will consider whether to hear this case at its March 4 conference.


BALLOT ACCESS BILLS

Bills to ease ballot access restrictions for new or minor parties, or independent candidates, have been introduced in ten states:

Alaska: on January 18, Senator Bill Wielechowski introduced SB 161, which eases the definition of a qualified party. Current law says it is a group with registration equal to 3% of the last vote cast, which is currently 10,821. The bill cuts that to exactly 5,000. Currently the only ballot-qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, and Alaskan Independence. If the bill passed, the Libertarians would also be qualified. The bill had a preliminary hearing in the Senate State Affairs Committee on February 17.

Arizona: on February 14, the Senate Government & Elections Committee passed SB 1460. Current law lets candidates running in primaries use electronic signatures. The bill extends this to independent candidates. Unfortunately, the bill also moves the filing deadline for write-in candidates from 40 days before the election, to 106 days before.

Arizona (2): on February 3, seven Representatives introduced HB 2640, which lowers the number of signatures for candidates running in primaries, and also for independent candidates. The independent candidate petition would drop from 3% of the number of independent voters, to 1.5% of that number. The primary petitions for statewide office would drop from one-fourth of 1% of the registered votesr, to one-eighth of 1%.

Hawaii: on February 22, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 2046. Current law requires petition signers to either show their complete birthday, or the last four digits of their Social Security Number. The bill amends the provision on birthdays, so only the month and day would be required.

Indiana: on January 6, Representative Ryan Dvorak introduced HB 1185, which lowers the number of signatures for an independent candidate, or the nominee of an unqualified party, from 2% of the last vote cast for Secretary of State, to 250 signatures.

Kansas: on February 1, the House Elections Committee introduced HB 2578, which lowers the number of signatures to recognize a new party from 2% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 1%. It also expands the length of time to collect the signatures, from six months, to one year.

New Hampshire: on February 10, the House Election Law Committee defeated both bills that would have eased ballot access. HB 1149 lowered the number of signatures for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties to one-third of the existing rquirements. HB 1197 eased the vote test for party status from 4% to 1%. The vote for both bills was 20-0.

New York: Assemblymember John Salka’s bill to lower the number of signatures for statewide independents and the nominees of unqualified parties, AB 8683, has not made any headway yet, but activists in the state are lobbying.

Oregon: on February 1, the House Rules Committee introduced HB 4044, to ease the definition of a qualified party. It lowers the number of registrations from one-half of 1%, to one-fourth of 1%. The Committee held a hearing on the bill on February 8, but has not yet acted on the bill. The bill was introduced to help the Working Families Party, which depends on its registration to remain on the ballot. It can’t use the alternate 1% vote test, because it invariably nominates Democratic Party nominees, so it doesn’t get credited with any votes of its own.

Tennessee: on January 27, bills were introduced to ease the petition for a new party, and the vote test to remain on. They lower the petition from 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote, to .5%. They lower the vote test from 5% to 1%. They are SB 2189 and HB 2067. The House bill has a committee hearing on March 2.

Wyoming: HB 152, by Representative Mike Yin, would have eased the definition of a party, from a group that got 2% for certain offices at the last election, to one which got 2% for those same offices at either of the last two elections. It would also have added president to the list of offices that count. But it failed to pass in time.


NEBRASKA BILL TO MAKE LEGISLATURE PARTISAN

Nebraska is the only state with non-partisan elections for state legislature. On January 20, Senator Julie Slama introduced LR282 to make the elections partisan. It received a hearing on February 3 but no vote has been taken.


BILLS TO ALTER PRIMARIES

Arizona: SB 1456 would allow independent voters to choose a presidential primary ballot. They can already do that in non-presidential primaries.

Idaho: on February 21 the House passed HB 439. Current law lets a voter join a party as late as primary day, so as to vote in that party’s primary. The bill says voters must have joined a party two months before the primary, in order to vote in its primary. The vote was 36-32. The bill has little impact on the Democratic primary, because Democrats lets independents vote in their primary.

Kentucky: two bills by Representative Buddy Wheatley would somewhat open primaries. HB 193 would ease the deadline by which a voter must have joined a party, from December 31 of the year before the primary, to thirty days before the primary. HB 113 would let independents vote in primaries.

Missouri: SB 907 and HB 1450 would change the state from open to closed primaries, and would put a question about party membership on the registration form.

New Hampshire: HB 1166 would somewhat close primaries. Current law lets independents join a party on primary day and then they can vote in that party’s primary. The bill would say independents must have joined a party at least four months before a primary. It would also say that parties could not nominate anyone who had not been a member for at least six months. It had a committee work session on February 23, which suggests it will advance.

New Jersey: SB 185 would let independents vote in partisan primaries without having to join the party on primary day.

New Mexico: HJR 5, which would have let independents vote in primaries, was defeated in the House Judiciary Committee on February 6.


OTHER ELECTION BILLS

Mississippi: on February 1, HB 373 was defeated in committee. It would have substantially raised candidate filing fees. Gubernatorial candidates would have needed to pay $3,000.

Pensylvania: HB 2218 would move the primary in presidential years from April to March. This seems to be the only bill in the nation to move a presidential primary date. Usually there are lots of bills on this subject.

South Carolina: on February 23, the House Judiciary Committee passed HB 4919. It bans fusion, the ability of two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate. The bill has 51 co-sponsors (the House has 124 members).

Tennessee: on February 15, the Senate State & Local Government Committee passed SB2616, an odd bill that says political parties may not nominate anyone for congress who has not voted in the last three presidential elections in the state. The bill violates the U.S. Supreme Court ruling U.S. Term Limits v Thornton, which says that states cannot add to the constitutional qualifications for Congress.


BILLS THAT BAN RANKED CHOICE VOTING

California: Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) has introduced AB 2808, which would prohibit any city or county from using ranked choice voting for its own elections.

Florida: SB 524 and HB 7061 prohibit any city or county from using ranked choice voting for its own elections. Both bills have passed all committees and are ready for floor votes.

Tennessee: SB 1820 and HB 1868 prohibit any local government from using ranked choice voting. The identical bills have passed in both chambers but the Governor hasn’t signed it yet.


NEW ILLINOIS BALLOT ACCESS LAWSUIT

On February 1, the Illinois Libertarian Party filed a federal ballot access lawsuit on whether the party can nominate candidates for Cook County Commission in its Cook County primary. The party is ballot-qualified in Cook County for the executive offices, because it received more than 5% of the vote in 2020 for State’s Attorney. But the elections office says that does not entitle the party to nominate for the County Commission races. Libertarian Party of Illinois v Yarbrough, n.d., 1:22cv-578.


2022 PETITION REQUIREMENTS PERMITTED UNDER JENNESS v FORTSON

In 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Jenness v Fortson that Georgia’s ballot access laws are constitutional. At the time Georgia required a separate petition of 5% of the number of registered voters for each candidate who was not the nominee of a party that had polled 20% of the vote for President in the entire nation, or 20% for Governor.

The chart below shows the number of signatures that would be required in each state, if each state had a law like Georgia’s old law. For 2022, for statewide office, if those laws existed in every state, a new party would need 10,551,597 signatures to run for statewide office in all states. Furthermore a separate petition would be required for each candidate.

The chart also shows that in reality, a new party could place a nominee on the ballot in 2022 for a statewide office with 541,078 signatures. The chart lists the easier method in each state, so in some states it is the independent petition, not the petition for a new party.

It is because of Jenness v Fortson that the Eleventh Circuit last month upheld the Georgia law relating to U.S. House candidates, in the Libertarian Party Cowen lawsuit. On February 23 the party filed a request for rehearing.

State

2020 Registration Total

Actual 2022 Requirement

5% of Reg. Total

Alabama

3,622,771

51,588

181,139

Alaska

594,474

0

29,724

Arizona

4,281,152

31,686

214,058

Arkansas

1,818,682

10,000

90,935

California

22.047,448

0

1,102,372

Colorado

3,647,180

8,000

182,359

Connecticut

2,263,958

7,500

113,198

Delaware

735,293

755

36,765

Florida

14,441,869

0

722,094

Georgia

7,236,600

64,354

361,830

Hawaii

832,466

833

41,623

Idaho

1,010,991

1,000

50,550

Illinois

8,364,099

25,000

418,205

Indiana

4,751,370

44,935

237,569

Iowa

2,056,085

3,500

102,805

Kansas

1,918,983

5,000

95,950

Kentucky

3,565,428

5,000

178,271

Louisiana

3,054,334

0

152,717

Maine

1,135,229

4,000

56,762

Maryland

4,180,787

10,000

209,040

Massachusetts

4,812,909

10,000

240,646

Michigan

7,151,051

12,000

357,553

Minnesota

3,588,299

2,000

179,415

Mississippi

1,985,928

0

99,297

Missouri

4,318,758

10,000

215,938

Montana

752,538

5,000

37,627

Nebraska

1,252,089

2,500

62,605

Nevada

1,865,551

250

93,278

New Hampshire

1,119,232

3,000

55,962

New Jersey

6,486,299

800

324,315

New Mexico

1,350,181

3,483

67,510

New York

12,363,072

45,000

618,154

North Carolina

7,288,232

13,757

364,412

North Dakota

429,000

1,000

21,450

Ohio

8,073,829

5,000

403,692

Oklahoma

2,206,208

0

110,311

Oregon

2,924,292

23,737

146,215

Pennsylvania

8,897,739

5,000

444,887

Rhode Island

795,212

1,000

39,671

South Carolina

3,513,225

10,000

175,662

South Dakota

569,805

3,393

28,491

Tennessee

4,261,137

25

213,057

Texas

15,279,870

83,435

763,994

Utah

1,620,561

1,000

81,029

Vermont

497,835

20

24,892

Virginia

6,002,778

11,000

300,139

Washington

4,892,871.

0

244,644

West Virginia

1,251,590

7,614

62,579

Wisconsin

3,684,726

2,000

184,237

Wyoming

239,257

5,418

11,963

TOTAL

211,033,273

541,078

10,551,597

The middle column shows how many signatures are needed in 2022 to get a new or previously unqualified party, or an independent candidate, on the ballot for statewide office (using the easiest method).


2022 PETITIONING FOR STATEWIDE OFFICE

STATE
REQUIREMENTS
SIGNATURES OR REGIS. OBTAINED
DEADLINES
FULL PARTY
CANDIDATE
LIB’T
GREEN
CONSTI
PEOPLES
Party Due
Indp. Due

Ala.

51,588

51,588

*53,000

0

0

0

May 24

May 24

Alaska

(reg) 10,821

pay fee

*(rg) 6,961

*(rg) 1,506

*(rg) 703

0

May 3

June 1

Ariz.

31,686

(est) #40,670

already on

0

0

0

Nov 25 ‘21

May 4

Ark.

10,000

10,000

already on

0

0

0

Dec 24 ‘21

May 2

Calif.

(reg) *72,618

65 + fee

already on

already on

*(rg) 172

*(rg) 654

Jan. 4

March 11

Colo.

(reg) 1,000

#8,000

already on

already on

already on

500

Jan. 14

July 14

Conn.

no procedure

#7,500

already on

already on

*0

*0

– – –

Aug. 10

Del.

*(reg) 755

*7,549

already on

*733

*(rg) 266

0

Aug. 23

July 15

D.C.

no procedure

#3,000

already on

already on

can’t start

can’t start

– – –

Aug. 10

Florida

0

pay fee

already on

already on

already on

*already on

April 29

May 6

Georgia

72,336

#64,354

already on

0

0

0

July 12

July 12

Hawaii

833

25

already on

already on

already on

0

*Feb. 24

June 7

Idaho

17,348

1,000

already on

0

already on

0

Aug. 30

March 11

Illinois

no procedure

#25,000

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

– – –

*July 13

Indiana

no procedure

#44,935

already on

0

0

0

– – –

June 30

Iowa

no procedure

*#3,500

*finished

0

0

0

– – –

in court

Kansas

21,102

5,000

already on

*0

0

0

June 1

Aug. 1

Ky.

no procedure

#5,000

*0

*0

*0

*0

– – –

Aug. 9

La.

(reg) 1,000

#pay fee

already on

already on

(rg) 267

0

Aug. 19

Aug. 19

Maine

*(reg) 5,000

#4,000

*already on

already on

0

*(rg) 100

in court

June 1

Md.

10,000

10,000

already on

already on

0

0

Aug. 1

Aug. 1

Mass.

(est) (reg) 45,500

#10,000

(rg) 19,097

(rg) 5,709

(rg) 370

0

Feb. 1

Aug. 2

Mich.

42,506

*12,000

already on

already on

already on

0

July 21

July 21

Minn.

163,859

#2,000

0

0

0

0

April 30

May 31

Miss.

be organized

1,000

already on

already on

already on

0

March 1

March 1

Mo.

10,000

10,000

already on

*2,100

already on

*3,000

July 25

July 25

Mont.

5,000

#16,959

already on

*in court

0

0

*Feb. 4

May 31

Nebr.

6,980

4,000

already on

0

0

0

Aug. 1

Sep. 1

Nev.

13,557

250

already on

*(rg) 2,499

already on

0

April 27

May 13

N. Hamp.

23,798

#3,000

0

0

0

0

Aug. 9

Aug. 9

N.J.

no procedure

#1,300

0

0

0

0

– – –

June 7

N. M.

3,483

10,260

already on

*2,300

0

0

June 30

June 28

N.Y.

no procedure

#45,000

in court

in court

can’t start

can’t start

– – –

*???

No. Car.

13,757

82,542

already on

*6,000

*1,500

0

May 17

March 8

No. Dak.

7,000

1,000

*2,500

0

0

0

April 11

Sep. 5

Ohio

57,630

5,000

0

0

0

100

July 6

May 2

Okla.

35,592

pay fee

already on

0

0

0

Feb. 28

April 15

Oregon

27,960

23,737

already on

already on

already on

100

Aug. 30

Aug. 30

Penn.

no procedure

5,000

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

– – –

Aug. 1

R.I.

18,758

#1,000

0

0

0

0

Aug. 1

July 15

So. Car.

10,000

10,000

already on

already on

already on

0

May 8

July 15

So. Dak.

3,393

3,393

already on

0

0

0

July 1

April 26

Tenn.

56,083

25

0

0

0

0

Aug. 10

April 7

Texas

83,435

83,435

already on

already on

can’t start

can’t start

May 15

June 23

Utah

2,000

#1,000

already on

0

already on

0

Nov 30 ‘21

March 15

Vermont

be organized

#500

already on

0

0

0

Jan 31

Aug. 18

Virginia

no procedure

#11,000

*0

*0

*0

*0

– – –

June 21

Wash.

no procedure

#pay fee

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

can’t start

– – –

May 20

West Va.

no procedure

#7,614

already on

already on

0

0

– – –

Aug. 1

Wisc.

10,000

#2,000

already on

0

already on

0

April 1

June 1

Wyo.

5,418

5,418

already on

0

already on

0

June 1

Aug. 28

TOTAL STATES ON
*34
15
13
1
~

#partisan label permitted. "(rg.) = registered members.
*change since Sep. 1 2021 BAN.
NJ, Va, & WV have no statewide races up in 2022, so requirement refers to full slate for US House.


MOST MINOR PARTY WEBSITES ARE SLOW TO POST STATEMENTS ABOUT UKRAINE

As of the evening of February 24, few minor party websites had posted any statement concerning the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Exceptions are the websites of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the Peace & Freedom Party. Both of them mildly criticize Russia but put most of the blame for the conflict on the United States and the other nations in NATO. By contrast, the website of the European Green Parties had posted a strong statement of support for Ukraine.

It is likely that other minor party websites will soon have statements.


ARKANSAS LIBERTARIANS NOMINATE 39 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES

On February 20, the Arkansas Libertarian Party held its state convention and nominated 39 candidates for the state legislature. This is the highest number of legislative candidates any Arkansas party, other than the Republican and Democratic Parties, has nominated since the 1890’s. The previous recent high had been the twelve candidates the Libertarians ran in 2018.

Ballot access for minor parties was very easy in Arkansas before 1971. Any party could be on the ballot, just by holding a convention. Yet for some reason minor parties in the early part of the twentieth century ran very few candidates in Arkansas.


WYOMING LEGISLATURE ALLOWS LIBERTARIAN PARTY TO FORM A CAUCUS

On February 16, the Wyoming House speaker allowed the Libertarian Party to form a caucus, even though it has only one member. Generally states don’t allow parties with only a single member to form a caucus. At one point the New Hampshire House did not permit the Libertarian Party to have a recognized caucus at a time when the party had two members in the House.


REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE VOTES TO CUT TIES WITH COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

On February 4, the Republican National Committee, meeting in Salt Lake City, gave preliminary approval to a rule change. It bans the party’s presidential nominee in 2024 from appearing on the general election debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. However, the party could always change its mind at its summer 2022 meeting. Some observers feel the party’s real goal is to force the Commission to give the party more control over the rules, especially the choice of moderators.


FORMER MISSOURI SENATOR ADVOCATES FOR AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR SENATE IN 2022

On February 18, former U.S. Senator John Danforth, a Republican, said he hopes an independent is elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri this year.


EVAN McMULLAN RAISES $1,000,000 IN LAST THREE MONTHS

Evan McMullin, independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah this year, has raised over $1,000,000 in the preceding three months.


MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE SENDS MASS MAILING TO VOTERS WHO WERE FORMERLY LIBERTARIAN MEMBERS

During the last week of January, the Maine Secretary of State sent letters to 5,830 voters who had been registered Libertarians until December 2018, when election officials had switched them all to independents, without asking. The letter informs the voters that a federal court had determined that it was unlawful for election officials to have erased their Libertarian registration. The letter asks the voters if they want to be again listed as Libertarians, and includes a postage-paid envelope.


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March 2022 Ballot Access News Print Edition — 6 Comments

  1. A really stupid argument was made in the case in Pennsylvania concerning the party affiliation of the petition circulators, which should not matter at all, especially since the courts have already ruled that one does not have to be registered to vote in order to circulate a petition. Also, around 1/3 of states, or something like that, do not have partisan voter registration. So now, because of this flawed argument, we have a flawed decision, which took over 4 years to get.

  2. Hey, New Hampshire — If a party wants to nominate a non-member, why is it your business to tell them they can’t? They should be able to nominate anyone they want.

  3. It was a dumb argument to make in the Pennsylvania case about the out of state petition circulator ban that the out of state circulators are members of the same party from other states. The vast majority of petition circulators are unphilosophical mercenaries looking to make money. Also, some states, I think it is 19 of them, do not have partisan voter registration.

    This case should have been argued as a free speech case. American citizens have a right to travel throughout the 50 states, plus DC and the federal territories, and we do not give up our free speech rights when we cross into another state or DC or a federal territory. Asking a person to sign a petition is NOT the same thing as signing a petition. Sometimes petitions get delivered in the mail. Should Democrat petitions only get delivered by Democrat mailmen, and should Republican petitions only get delivered by Republican mailmen? Should political signs for Democrats only be made by Democrat sign makers, and Republican political signs only be made by Republican sign makers? Should onky Democrat reporters be able to report or Democratic Party primaries, and only Republican reporters be able to report on Republican primaries? The attorney made a bad argument in this case.

  4. You are wrong. Political committeeman work for a state party and its internal candidates should be done by state party members who are active in and reside in that state and county and borough. Paying outsiders to do that work should be highly illegal both for those getting paid and those accepting the pay. Crossing state lines to do it should be a federal crime with heavy jail time and public corporal punishment attached, with the corporal punishment and humiliation to be performed in the town square and avauilable on TV and youtube. I am a fan of the old fashion stockade. Or the wheel barrow and sign etc. And maybe being whipped Friday night before or in halftime of the local high school football game. Great fun for the town folk. Party nominations should be decided by party committeemen in rooms filled with thick cigar smoke, so all the petition nonsense can be elimianted once and for all.

  5. Bullcrap! Most of the petition circulators who get paid, including by Democrats and Republicans, are just hired guns looking to make a buck. Most of them are nit activist types, and most are not loyal to any cause or party.

  6. Yes idiot, that is the problem., That should be completely illegal. What part of that is your pea brain having a hard time with. How many ppl do u think would sign if u wore a big shaming sign telling them that. U are garbage.

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