GEORGIA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL FOR EASIER PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT ACCESS

On March 28, the Georgia legislature passed an omnibus election law bill that eases ballot access for the presidential nominees of unqualified minor parties.  SB 189 says that if a party has qualified to place its presidential nominee on the ballot of at least twenty other states, then that candidate may automatically appear on the Georgia ballot.

Governor Brian Kemp has not yet acted on the bill.  The bill also makes it easier for a voter to be challenged, and it creates an obstacle for homeless voters.  Current law lets them receive postal mail relating to election administration at any place where they can receive postal mail, but the bill says all such mail must be sent to the county elections office, and the homeless person must travel there to receive the mail.  This has made the bill controversial, although it still seems unlikely that the Governor will veto the bill.

The ballot access provision is a significant liberalization.  If the bill had been in effect starting in 1972, these minor party presidential candidates who were not on the Georgia ballot would have been on:

1972:  John G. Schmitz, American Party, and Linda Jenness, Socialist Workers.

1976:  Roger MacBride, Libertarian; Peter Camejo, Socialist Workers; Lyndon LaRouche, U.S. Labor.

1980:  Barry Commoner, Citizens; Clifton DeBerry, Socialist Workers.

1984:  David Bergland, Libertarian; Dennis Serrette, New Alliance.

1988:  none.

1992:  Lenora Fulani, New Alliance;  John Hagelin, Natural Law.

1996:  Ralph Nader, Green; Howard Phillips, U.S. Taxpayers; John Hagelin, Natural Law.

2000:  Ralph Nader, Green; Howard Phillips, Constitution; John Hagelin, Natural Law.

2004:  Michael Peroutka, Constitution; David Cobb, Green.

2008:  Chuck Baldwin, Constitution; Cynthia McKinney, Green.

2012:  Jill Stein, Green; Virgil Goode, Constitution.

2016:  Jill Stein, Green; Darrell Castle, Constitution.

2020:  Howie Hawkins, Green.

As the list shows, if this bill had been law in the past, the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Natural Law, Socialist Workers, and New Alliance Parties would have been significantly helped.

Ironically, the bill does not help independent candidates such as Eugene McCarthy in 1976, Ralph Nader in 2004 and 2008, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., this year.  The bill discriminates against independent presidential candiates who might be on the ballot in twenty or more states.  It is likely that if the bill becomes law, Kennedy will sue to get it extended to independent presidential candidates who are on the ballot in at least twenty states.

If the No Labels Party had not dropped out of the presidential race, the bill would have helped it.

The part of the bill helping minor parties was not added into the bill until March 20, so there was very little public discussion of the idea.

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FEDERAL COURTS ENJOIN NEW JERSEY BALLOT FORMAT

On March 29, U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi, a Biden appointee, enjoined the New Jersey Democratic primary ballot format that discriminates against some candidates in favor of other candidates.  Kim v Hanlon, 3:24cv-1098.

This was a stunning victory for opponents of the old format.  Other lawsuits had been filed in the past against that format in state and federal court, but they had not won.  Two other lawsuits on this subject had been filed in 2020 in federal court, and they have been moving very slowly and are not decided.  They are Mazo v Durkin and Conforti v Hanlon.

On April 17, the Third Circuit agreed with the lower court that the injunction is proper.  24-1594.  The judges were Kent Jordan (Bush, Jr. appointee), Cheryl Ann Krause (Obama), and Arianna J. Freeman (Biden).

The old format uses a party column format, which is odd for a primary ballot.  The left-most column contains the candidates supported by the party county committees.  Other candidates are scattered helter-skelter in other columns.

The general election ballot in 19 of the 21 counties is just as discriminatory.  There is a column headed “Democratic”; one headed “Republican”; and a third column labeled “Nomination by Petition.”  All the minor party and independent candidates are squeezed into that third column.  A lawsuit against the general election format will probably be filed.

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ALABAMA SENATE PASSES BILL EASING PRESIDENTIAL DEADLINES

On April 23, the Alabama Senate unanimously passed SB 324, which moves the deadline for a qualified party to certify the names of its presidential and vice-presidential nominees from 82 days before the general election to 74 days.  The bill also moves the deadline for an independent presidential petition from 82 days to 74 days.  Assuming the bill passes, the new deadlines will be August 23 instead of August 15.

An identical bill in the House, HB 448, passed the House Constitution, Campaigns & Elections Committee, on April 17, and is likely to pass the House soon.

This bill exists because the 2024 Democratic presidential convention is later than the existing deadline.  In the past when major party conventions have been held later than the Alabama deadline, the legislature has passed bills temporarily authorizing a later deadline.  This time, the bill extends the deadline for all future elections instead of just the next election.

Ohio has a deadline for major parties to certify their nominees that is also earlier than the date of the 2024 Democratic convention.  It is likely that an Ohio bill to move the deadline to a later day will be introduced soon.  It will be interesting to see if the Ohio deadline also extends the deadline for petitions for independent presidential candidates.

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FEC PUBLISHES HELPFUL BOOK

The Federal Election Commission has recently published an updated version of  Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees.  See it at the FEC’s website, fec.gov.   Also the FEC released a new version of Combined Federal/State Disclosure & Election Directory.

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KENNEDY WINS HAWAII CHALLENGE

On April 20, a hearing officer with the state elections office ruled that the party that supports Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., should remain on the ballot.  The Hawaii Democratic Party had filed a challenge to the party’s ballot status.  The Democratic Party did not find any fault with the party’s petition.  But it said the party should be removed from the ballot because two of its officers had voted in 2022 in Democratic primaries.  The two officers of Kennedy’s party, the We the People Party, testified at the hearing that they did not consider themselves members of the Democratic Party.  Hawaii does not have registration by party.  The hearing officer ruled that the challenge has no merit, and that the We the People Party is qualified.

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SUPREME COURT WON’T HEAR VARIOUS ELECTION LAW CASES

On April 15, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Frank v Lee, 23-901, a Wyoming case challenging the new law that no petitioning can take place within 250 feet of the entrance to a polling place.

On April 22, the Court refused to hear Cascino v Nelson, 23-612.  It challenged a Texas law that says voters over age 65 may vote early for any reason, but younger voters cannot vote early unless they will not be near their home polling place on election day.  The plaintiffs had argued treating older voters better than younger voters violates the 26^th Amendment, which says that no state may prevent anyone from registering on the grounds of age, if the individual is at least 18 years old.

On April 22, the Court also refused to hear Lake v Fontes, 23-1021.  This was a challenge brought by the 2022 Arizona Republican nominees for Governor and Secretary of State to the use of electronic vote-counting machines.

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BALLOT ACCESS BILLS

Arizona:  on April 10, Governor Katie Hobbs signed HB 2474, which says that petitions to recognize a new party must be completed within two years.

Connecticut: the last B.A.N. mentioned HB 5498, which contained a provision making it illegal for a qualified party to have the words “Independent” or “Independence” in the party name.  However, that provision was deleted from the bill after the Independent Party organized a lobbying effort to protect itself.

Georgia:  on April 18, Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 1312.  It says there will be no statewide partisan election in 2024 for Public Service Commissioner.  This makes it more difficult for a party to poll enough votes to remain on the ballot in 2024.  Unless the new law is blocked with a lawsuit, the only statewide race on the November ballot will be president.  Libertarian presidential nominees have never polled enough votes in Georgia to meet the vote test, except in 2016.  But the law might be challenged because the State Constitution says there should be an election.

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MAINE JOINS NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE PLAN

On April 10, Maine Governor Janet Mills let LD 1578 take effect.  This is the bill for Maine to join the National Popular Vote Plan.  The plan goes into effect if and when states with a majority of electoral votes have joined.  The plan still needs approval from states with 61 electoral votes.

The Michigan legislature may pass HB 4156, the National Popular Vote Plan bill, soon.  On April 16, Democrats regained their majority in the House after they won two special elections.  Generally speaking, Democratic legislators support the Plan and Republicans do not, and now Democrats control the Michigan legislature.

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LAWSUIT NEWS

California:  on April 9, the State Court of Appeals, Third District, issued an opinion in Weber v Superior Court, B324576.  It agreed with the lower court that there is no prohibition in state law to prevent someone from running for two offices simultaneously.

Colorado:  on April 24, a state trial court kept Trisha Calvarese, the Democratic nominee for U.S. House, district 4, on the special election ballot.  The election is June 25.  Glasser v Griswold, 2024-cv-31103.  State law says a party can’t nominate someone who hasn’t been a registered member of that party for a year, unless the state party has a more lenient rule.  The Democratic Party does have a more lenient rule but it wasn’t clear that it applied to special elections.  The candidate lived in Virginia during the last year, and Virginia doesn’t have registration by party, so it was impossible for her to have been a registered Democrat during the last year.

Georgia:  on April 23, U.S. District Court Judge William Ray, a Trump appointee, issued an opinion in Catoosa County Republican Party v Catoosa County Board of Elections, n.d., 4:24cv-95.  He refused to order the elections board to remove some candidates from the Republican primary ballot.  The party had claimed they were not bona fide Republicans.  They were running for County Commission and some of them are incumbents running for re-election.  The judge noted that the county Republican Party had already sued in state court to remove them, and the party had lost that lawsuit also, although an appeal is pending in the State Supreme Court.

Maine:  on March 11, former President Donald Trump filed a new lawsuit in state court against the Secretary of State.  Trump v Bellows, AP-24-12.  The purpose is to undo the Secretary of State’s ruling of December 28, 2023, that he had engaged in insurrection.

Minnesota:  on April 16, the State Supreme Court heard Martin v Simon, A24-0216.  This is the case in which the Democratic Party challenges the existence of the Legal Marijuana Now Party.  The Democrats say the party didn’t hold enough local organizing meetings to comply with the law.  However, in 1989 the U.S. Supreme Court said in Eu v San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee that states cannot tell parties how to be organized.  Also in 1968, in Williams v Rhodes, the concurring opinion by Justice William O. Douglas said much the same thing.

Missouri:  on May 9, a state trial court will hear Missouri Republican Party v Secretary of State, Cole Circuit Court, 24AC-CC02151.  The issue is whether the party can exclude Darrell McClanahan, a candidate for Governor, from its primary ballot.  He is an honorary member of the Ku Klux Klan.  The party says it has a freedom of association right to exclude him.

New York:  on May 14, the Second Circuit will hear Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 23-1054.   This is the case over the constitutionality of the May petition deadline for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties.   The district court had upheld the May deadline.

New York(2):  on April 1, Cara Castronuiva, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, filed a federal lawsuit against the petition requirement for primary candidates for statewide office.  Castronuiva v Cox, e.d., 1:24cv-2428.  The requirement is 15,000 signatures, which must be collected in 37 days.  Candidates with support at a party endorsements meeting do not need to complete the petition.

North Carolina:  on April 2, a U.S. District Court ruled that the Democratic Party’s 2022 lawsuit to keep the Green Party off the ballot was so “frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation” that the party must pay $6,525 to the Green Party’s attorneys.

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CONSTITUTION PARTY PRESIDENTIAL  VOTE

	Terry	Skousen	Other
Ariz	0	10	0
Colo	0	18	0
Fla	34	0	0
Ga	10	0	0
Ill	7	0	0
Md	5	0	0
Mich	19	0	8
Minn	7	0	3
Mo	0	10	11
Nev	0	15	0
N.H.	0	3	0
NoC	23	0	0
Pa	11	0	3
SoC	0	0	11
Tenn	9	0	0
Ut	0	18	0
W.Va	0	5	0
Wis	19	0	0
Wy.	0	1	4
TOT	144	80	40

The two leading candidates were Randall Terry and Joel Skousen.

The “Other” Vote:  Paul Venable 32; Daniel Cummings 4; Samm Tittle 2; Brandon McIntyre 2. 

Venable votes were from:  8 Michigan, 2 Minnesota, 11 Missouri, 11 South Carolina.

Cummings votes were:  2 Pennsylvania, 2 Utah.

Tittle votes were:  1 Pennsylvania, 1 Wyoming.

McIntyre votes were:  1 Minnesota, 1 Wyoming.

For vice president, the convention chose Stephen E. Broden, who was Terry’s choice for vice president.  Broden was a Republican nominee for U.S. House in 2010 in Houston, Texas.  He is the first African-American to have received either a presidential or vice presidential nomination from the Constitution Party.

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PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RESULTS, PRIMARIES IN LATTER PART OF MARCH

DEM.	AZ	FL	GA	IL	KS	LA	ME	MA	MS	OH	WA
Biden	374,960	– –	276,141	725,998	35,906	143,380	60,018	524,626	87,922	456,523	763,739
Cornejo	6,126	– –
Ely						2,652
Lozada	4,972	– –		14,206		2,245
Lyons	2,751	– –				2,770
Palmer	3,747	– –			516
Perez-Serrto		– –				1,200
Phillips	11,609	– –	5,271	25,238	566	4,351	4,623	29,163		67,889	25,190
Uygur		– –				1,114
Williamson	15,837	– –	8,673	28,187	1,494	7,898		20,089			25,308
NONE		– –			4,433			58,991			89,764
Write-ins											10,966
REP.
Binkley	891	1,385	377	3,028	508	580	299	611
Burgum			161
Castro	504
Christie	5,075	8,953	2,054	9,559		1,281		5,125		19,896	8,702
DeSantis	10,130	41,269	7,457	16,808	2,543	3,022	1,191	3,986	3,966	37,904	17,870
Haley	110,948	155,560	77,902	85,180	15,339	13,123	27,912	209,113	12,829	161,357	151,485
Hutchinson	714	1,190	383			519		635
Johnson			134
Ramaswam	2,478	2,850	1,244			595	440	1,714	1,074	14,412	7,318
Scott			1,398
Stuckenberg	1,366		243			210
Swift						335
Trump	491,913	911,424	497,594	475,844	72,115	172,503	79,034	340,312	225,683	889,001	601,070
NONE					4,982	7,448		4,883
Write-ins											4,906
LIBT.
Hornberger								1,089
Mapstead								399
Oliver								1,453
Rectenwald								546
Ter Maat								314
NONE								3,982
Write-ins								2,161

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2024 PRESIDENTIAL PETITIONING

State	Requirements		Signatures or Registrations Obtained					Deadline
	Full Party	Candidate	Libertarian	Green	Constitut.	RFK Jr.	West
Ala.	42,458	5,000	0	*200	0	*700	0	*Aug. 23
Alaska	(reg)   5,000	3,614	already on	*5,500	already on	*3,300	already on	Aug. 7
Ariz.	34,116	(es) #43,000	already on	already on	0	*5,000	0	Aug. 17
Ark.	10,000	5,000	already on	already on	0	*1,000	0	Aug. 1
Calif.	(reg) (es) 75,000	219,403	already on	already on	271	15,000	0	Aug. 9
Colo.	10,000	12,000	already on	already on	already on	0	already on	Aug. 7
Conn.	no procedure	#7,500	already on	*1,000	0	*2,500	0	Aug. 7
Del.	*(reg) 769	*7,690	already on	*720	*finished	*115	0	Aug. 20
D.C.	no procedure	(est.) #5,200	can’t start	already on	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	Aug. 7
Florida	0	145,040	already on	already on	already on	organizing	0	Sept. 1
Georgia	69,884	#7,500	already on	*0	0	*3,000	0	July 9
Hawaii	862	*5,798	already on	already on	0	already on	0	Aug. 7
Idaho	17,359	1,000	already on	*already on	already on	*finished	0	Aug. 30
Illinois	no procedure	#25,000	*1,500	*100	0	*12,000	0	June 24
Indiana	no procedure	#36,944	already on	*150	0	0	0	July 1
Iowa	no procedure	#3,500	already on	*160	0	*finished	0	Aug. 16
Kansas	20,180	5,000	already on	*450	0	*1,000	0	Aug. 5
Ky.	no procedure	#5,000	*100	*100	0	0	0	Sept. 6
La.	(reg) 1,000	#pay fee	already on	already on	161	0	0	Aug. 23
Maine	(reg) 5,000	#4,000	already on	already on	0	*2,000	0	Aug. 1
Md.	10,000	10,000	already on	*3,600	0	*11,000	0	Aug. 5
Mass.	*(reg) 47,816	#10,000	already on	*1,000	(reg) 330	*1,5000	0	July 30
Mich.	44,478	*12,000	already on	already on	already on	*already on	0	July 18
Minn.	*125,534	#2,000	0	0	0	0	0	Aug. 20
Miss.	be organized	1,000	already on	already on	already on	organizing	0	Sept. 6
Mo.	10,000	10,000	already on	*7,500	*2,000	*12,000	0	July 29
Mont.	5,000	#5,000	already on	already on	0	*2,000	0	Aug. 14
Nebr.	6,605	2,500	already on	0	0	*finished	0	Aug. 1
Nev.	10,096	10,096	already on	*finished	already on	disputed	0	July 5
N. Hamp.	18,575	#3,000	0	*50	0	*finished	0	Aug. 7
N.J.	no procedure	#800	0	*100	0	0	200	July 29
N. M.	3,562	3,562	already on	already on	0	*600	0	June 27
N.Y.	no procedure	#45,000	*2,000	*1,000	0	*18,000	0	May 28
No. Car.	13,757	82,542	already on	already on	finished	*finished	0	May 18
No. Dak.	7,000	4,000	*already on	0	0	*1,000	0	Sept. 3
Ohio	40,345	5,000	finished	*8,000	0	0	0	Aug. 7
Okla.	35,592	pay fee	already on	0	0	0	0	July 15
Oregon	29,294	23,737	already on	already on	already on	0	already on	Aug. 27
Penn.	no procedure	#5,000	*2,500	*1,000	0	0	0	Aug. 1
R.I.	17,884	#1,000	0	0	0	0	0	Sept. 6
So. Car.	10,000	10,000	already on	already on	already on	*2,500	already on	July 15
So. Dak.	3,502	3,502	already on	0	0	0	0	Aug. 6
Tenn.	43,498	275	in court	0	0	0		Aug. 20
Texas	81,030	113,151	already on	already on	0	*finished	0	*May 28
Utah	2,000	#1,000	already on	already on	already on	already on	already on	*June 1
Vermont	be organized	#1,000	already on	*410	0	*400	already on	Aug. 1
Virginia	no procedure	#5,000	*4,500	*900	0	*1,000	0	Aug. 23
Wash.	no procedure	#1,000	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	July 27
West Va.	no procedure	#7,948	already on	already on	0	*1,300	0	Aug. 1
Wisc.	10,000	#2,000	already on	already on	already on	0	0	Aug. 6
Wyo.	3,879	3,879	already on	0	already on	*700	0	Aug. 27
Total States On			37	*21	12	3	6

#partisan label permitted. “Organizing” refers to qualifying a party in the states that don’t require a petition for that. “Deadline” column shows the deadline for the latest way to get on.   * means entry changed since the April 1 issue.

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NO LABELS WON’T RUN ANYONE FOR PRESIDENT

On April 4, No Labels said it will not run a presidential nominee, because it couldn’t find anyone with the potential to win.  Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did say he would run, but only if No Labels found a Democrat of stature to run for vice president.  But no such Democrat could be found.

It is not clear if No Labels will finish any of its petition or registration drives.  It is also not clear if No Labels will try to stop candidates from obtaining its nomination for Congress or state office, other than in Arizona, where it already won a court order to stop such candidates.  Anyone is free to run for Congress or state office in its primaries in Hawaii and Wisconsin.

Americans Elect, which had a similar plan in 2012, also decided not to run anyone, but Americans Elect didn’t give up until May 17.  States in which Americans Elect qualified for the ballot, but which No Labels did not qualify in (so far, anyway) are Alabama, California, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Wyoming.

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CONSTITUTION PARTY NOMINATES

On April 27, the Constitution Party held a presidential convention in Salt Lake City.  It nominated Randall Terry, age 64 or 65, for President; and Stephen E. Broden, 72, for vice president.  Terry lives in West Virginia and Broden in Texas.  See page four for information about the convention and the roll-call vote by state.

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CORNEL WEST CHOOSES VP

On April 10, 2024, Cornel West announced that his vice-presidential running mate is Professor Melina Abdullah, who lives in California.

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UNITY PARTY CHOOSES WEST FOR PRESIDENT

On April 13, the Unity Party of Colorado, which is ballot-qualified, chose Cornel West for Presdient.

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NATURAL LAW PARTY OF MICHIGAN NOMINATES KENNEDY

On April 17, the Natural Law Party of Michigan, which is ballot-qualified, nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for President.

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INDEPENDENT QUALIFIES FOR U.S. HOUSE IN NORTH CAROLINA, FOR FIRST TIME EVER

Shelene Etchison has become the first independent candidate to qualify for the North Carolina ballot as a candidate for U.S. House.  She is running in the Ninth District.  She needed a petition of 1.5% of the registered voters.  The reason she is the first is that the requirement has been so difficult in the past.  It started in 1915 at 10%, then went to 25% in 1935, then to 10% in 1973, to 4% in 1991, to 1.5% in 2017.

North Carolina has never had an independent candidate on the ballot for either Governor or U.S. Senator, and the only person who ever completed the North Carolina independent petition for president was Ross Perot in 1992.

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FORWARD PARTY PETITIONS FOR STATEWIDE OFFICE IN PENNSYLVANIA

The Forward Party of Pennsylvania is circulating a petition to be on the ballot for Attorney General and Treasurer.  The party needs 5,000 signatures.  The party chose not to run anyone for U.S. Senate.