BALLOT ACCESS IMPROVEMENT BILLS INTRODUCED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NEW YORK

SIMILAR BILLS MAY BE INTRODUCED IN 16 MORE STATES

Bills to improve ballot access have been introduced in New Hampshire and New York.

New Hampshire: Representatives Alvin See and Michael Moffett, both Republicans from Loudon, have introduced HB 363. It improves the deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, to file a declaration of candidacy. Currently the deadline is in June, but the bill extends that to the third Monday in July. This would be especially helpful to any potential independent or minor party presidential candidate who declares in the late spring or early summer. Ever since 1985, New Hampshire has required the declaration for presidential candidates running outside the major parties, a bad policy that would have blocked Robert La Follette in 1924 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.

The bill does not change the August petition deadline for independent and minor party candidates, but it de-couples that deadline from the date of the primary. It says the deadline is usually 13 weeks before the general election, which means early August. Existing law unfortunately ties the deadline to the date of the non-presidential primary, so if New Hampshire moves the non-presidential primary from September to an earlier month (which is likely), the petition deadline won’t be affected if this bill passes.

New York: State Senators Robert Jackson and James Sanders, both Democrats from New York city, have introduced SB 1031. It restores the pre-2020 definition of a political party, a group that polled 50,000 votes for Governor.

In 2020 the legislature had sharply increased the difficulty of qualifying as a party, by changing it to 2% for the office at the top of the ticket every two years (president/Governor). The 2020 change eliminated the Libertarian, Green, SAM, and Independence Parties from the ballot effective November 2020. If the bill passes, none of those parties would automatically be restored, because they weren’t on the 2022 ballot for Governor.

Other states: Efforts are being made to have other ballot access improvement bills introduced in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas.

On January 5, the North Carolina Constitution Party won its campaign finance lawsuit, even though the party had no attorney, and was defended only by the party Treasurer in a pro se capacity.

The Board of Elections had fined the party $500 for failing to file a 2022 First Quarter Campaign Finance Report, but the party was not on the ballot in 2022 and had no nominees. The decision says that the State Board could not levy the fine because the statute only requires such reports for "campaign committees". Constitution Party of North Carolina State Executive Committee v State Board of Elections, Office of Administrative Hearings 22 BOE 3399.

No Labels, a group that does not like to refer to itself as a political party, has been making strong progress toward qualifying itself as a political party in some states. It is now on the ballot in Florida and Colorado, and its petitions are being checked in Ohio, Oregon, North Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska. It is petitioning in many other states.

Originally it said it was only interested in running a presidential nominee, and only if it felt its nominee had a chance to win. But it is always possible it will decide to also run congressional candidates. Democrats generally frown on No Labels, fearing that a No Labels presidential nominee would injure the Democratic nominee. But Democrats in many states are free to enact Ranked Choice Voting.

On January 25, Alaska officials cleared the way for an initiative to circulate that would restore the ability of parties to have nominees, and which would repeal Ranked Choice Voting in partisan elections. The initiative needs 26,705 signatures.

There are also bills pending in the legislature to repeal the new system, but they aren’t expected to pass. They are HB 1, HB 4, and SB 2, all sponsored by Republicans. The three sponsors are Senator Mike Shower, and Representatives George Rauscher and Sarah Vance.

Arizona: Representative Jennifer Pawlik (D-Chandler) has introduced HB 2153, which would let independent voters choose a presidential primary ballot. Arizona already lets independents vote in non-presidential primaries, but not in presidential primaries.

Hawaii: this state is one of five states that has never held a government-administered presidential primary, but there are three bills pending to establish one. They are HB 342, HB 1444, and SB 1005. One of the bills is sponsored by the Speaker of the House. The other states that have never had a government-administered presidential primary are Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wyoming (although the only such primary in Alaska was when it was a territory).

Michigan: on January 26, the State Senate passed SB 13 on a party-line vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. It moves the presidential primary from the second Tuesday in March to the fourth Tuesday in February.

Missouri: although this state held a presidential primary in 2020, it was repealed for future years that same year. However, Representative Eric Woods (D-Kansas City) has introduced HB 738, to restore the presidential primaries.

New Hampshire: Senator Daryl Abbas (R-Salem) has introduced CACR9, to place a provision in the State Constitution saying New Hampshire will hold the nation’s first presidential primary. If this bill passes, the voters would then vote on it, but it wouldn’t take effect unless it received two-thirds of the popular vote.

New York: Senator James Skoufis (D-Newburgh) has introduced SB 437, to move the presidential primary from April to late June. An identical bill, A1109, was introduced in the Assembly by Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson.

Oregon: Senator Suzanne Weber (R-Tillamook) has introduced SB 499, the move the primary for all office from May to the first Tuesday in March.

West Virginia: Senator Mike Oliverio (R-Morgantown) has introduced SB 218, to move the presidential primary from May to the second Tuesday in February. He has also introduced SB 152, which would move the non-presidential primary from May to August.

Nebraska: Senator Loren Lippincott (R-Central City) has introduced LB 764, which would end letting each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. In both 2008 and 2020, one of the Nebraska districts chose a Demo critic elector, whereas the rest of the state chose Republican electors. Nebraska and Maine are the only states that let each district choose its own elector.

New York: Senator James Skoufis (D-Newburgh) has introduced SB 438, which would provide that if a presidential elector doesn’t vote for the nominee of his or her party, that elector is deemed to have resigned and is immediately replaced.

The bill is poorly worded because it doesn’t specify whether the "party" is the national convention nominee, or the nominee of the state party. In the past there are some instances when the two were not the same person. For example, in 1968, the national Democratic nominee was Hubert Humphrey, but the nominee of the Alabama Democratic Party was George Wallace. In 2020 the Alaska Green Party differed from the national convention choice.

Texas: Two Democratic legislators have introduced bills to have the state join the National Popular Vote Compact. They are Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) with SB 95, and Representative Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin).

New Hampshire: three Representatives have introduced HB 116, which would increase filing fees for Governor and Congress. Governor and U.S. Senator would increase from $100 to $10,000; U.S. House would increase from $50 to $5,000. The sponsors are Joe Sweeney (R-Salem), Joe Alexander (R-Goffstown), and Ross Berry (R-Manchester). Their motivation seems to be that they are unhappy with the results of the 2020 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, in which their favored candidate, Chuck Morse, lost to Donald Bolduc, in a primary race with ten candidates. They feel that if there had been fewer candidates, Morse would have won.

Texas: Representative Valoree Swanson (R-Spring) has introduced HB 232, to increase the filing feeo for candidates for State House from $750 to $1,250.

Wyoming: eight legislators have introduced HB 155, which would make deadlines for independent candidates, and the nominees of minor parties, much more restrictive. The bill would provide that minor parties, which nominate by convention, must certify their nominees at least 81 days before the primary. Current law lets them certify their nominees by the day before the primary. Also, the petition deadline for independent candidates would go from late August to 81 days before the primary, which would be early June. The sponsors are all Republicans: Senator Lyn Hutchings, Senator Cheri Steinmetz, and Representatives Tony Locke, Bill Allemand, Allen Slagle, Scott Smith, Clarence Styvar, and Tamara Trujillo.

On January 20 the Vermont Supreme Court said if towns want to let non-citizen residents vote in local elections, they may do that. Ferry v Montpelier, 22-AP-125.

The Politics of Ballot Design, How States Shape American Democracy, by Erik J. Engstrom and Jason M. Roberts, 2020, Cambridge University Press. The paperback, issued in 2022, is 151 pages.

The authors are Political Science professors. The book deals with a neglected area of research, how ballot design affects voting behavior. Specifically, the book deals with ballot format, and whether or not the ballot has a party circle (also called a party lever, or a straight-ticket device). There are basically two ballot formats, party-column and office-block.

In a party-column ballot, all the nominees of any particular party are in the same column, or same row. In an office-group ballot, each office is a separate part of the ballot, and all the candidates for that one particular office are listed in a group.

Thus, there are four different types of ballot: (1) office-group with no straight-ticket device; (2) office-group with a straight-ticket device; (3) party-column with no straight-ticket device; (4) party-column with a straight-ticket device.

The trend in the last few decades has been away from types (3) and (4). There are only five states with party-column ballots, and there are only six states with straight-ticket devices.

The book has lots of data, and it shows that ballot format helps determine what kind of politician get elected, and how politicians behave once in office.

The book also shows how, throughout history since the government-printed ballot was created, state legislators have altered ballot design to foster their own political interests. The Ohio Republican Party even did an initiative to change ballot format in 1949, to help Senator Robert Taft in 1950.

The authors are formally neutral about which type of ballot they prefer. They write, "It is not clear to us what the optimal ballot design should be. In terms of facilitating voting, the straight-ticket option allows committed partisans to efficiently complete the partisan portion of the ballot and minimizes the opportunities for errors and mistakes. It also induces people to cast ballots in races that they otherwise would not choose to make a choice in…At the same time, the results in Chapter 4 suggest that the absence of a party box may enhance legislative responsiveness and legislative effectiveness among legislators."

The authors do not discuss the effect of ballot design on independent and minor party candidates. Independent candidates in particular are harmed by straight-ticket devices. In the last thirty years, the number of independent candidates being elected to state legislatures has risen markedly, and it is clear that ballot design changes during that time have helped elect more independents.

Iowa: On November 8, 2022, Libertarian Party nominee Sean Schriver, running for State House, district 71, polled 32.24% in a two-person race. That is the highest showing for a minor party candidate for Iowa legislature since before World War II. No minor party nominee has been elected to the Iowa legislature since 1891.

Nebraska: the Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee for Attorney General, Larry Bolinger, polled 30.27% in a two-person race. That is the highest percent for any minor party or independent candidate for statewide office in that state since 1936, when independent George Norris was elected with 43.82%.

New Mexico: the Libertarian nominee for Auditor, Travis Sanchez, polled 38.07% in a two-person race. That was the highest share of the vote received by a minor party or independent candidate for statewide office in state history. The previous record had been Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party showing in 1912, 35.91%.

West Virginia: the Americans Coming Together Party nominee for for Delegate, 91^st District, S. Marshall Wilson, polled 39.7% in a two-person race. That was the best showing by a minor party nominee for the state’s legislature in at least 95 years. West Virginia hasn’t elected a minor party nominee to the legislature since 1906.

On January 6, a three-judge U.S. District Court struck down the boundaries of South Carolina’s U.S. House districts on Fourteenth Amendment grounds. South Carolina Conference of the NAACP v Alexander, 3:21cv-3302. The Court asked the legislature to draw new boundaries by March 31, 2023. If that does not happen, presumably the court will appoint a special master to draw the districts.

There are many other states in which courts are still pnndering whether the U.S. House district lines are lawful. They include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. Some of the lawsuits are in state court and others are in federal court or in the U.S. Supreme Court. That court heard one of the cases, from Alabama, on October 4, 2022, and the decision is not out yet. Merrill v Milligan, 21-1086.

~	Libertarian	Wk Fam	Green	Consti.	Conserv.	Ind Pty	oth(1)	oth(2)	independent
Alab.	44,240	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alas.	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,049	2,378	8,205
Ariz.	0 0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	34,382
Ark.	39,972	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,687
Cal.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colo.	7,951	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Conn.	0	11,241	952	0	0	19,938	0	0	191
Del	541	0	0	0	0	0	1,257	0	0
Fla.	0	0	64,119	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ga.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hi.	594	0	1,933	0	0	0	1,235	0	989
Ida.	3,011	0	0	8,765	0	0	0	0	4,926
Ill.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ind.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Iowa	9,690	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10,278
Ky.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Me.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,373
Md.	15,657	0	4,306	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mass.	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,168	0	62,929
Mich.	12,745	0	1,475	6,515	0	0	15,271	0	0
Minn.	1,061	0	0	0	0	0	10,348	699	1,485
Mo.	14,209	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mont.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neb.	5,031	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nev.	3,064	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
N.H	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
N.Y.	0	231,031	0	0	311,939	0	0	0	13,340
No.C.	14,562	0	1,348	0	0	0	0	0	0
No.D.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,844
Ohio	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Okla.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ore.	9,295	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pa.	1,961	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R.I.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10,452
So.D.	2,537	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tenn.	0	0	9,278	0	0	0	0	0	10,550
Tex.	218,342	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Utah	3,766	0	0	0	0	0	20,077	0	0
Vt.	0	0	0	0	0	0	12,378	0	10,886
Wa.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	44,013
W.V.	13,273	0	0	0	0	0	1,085	0	5,148
Wis.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wyo.	421	0	0	1,104	0	0	0	0	1,369
TOT.	377,683	242,272	83,411	16,384	311,939	19,938	66,868	3,077	228,047

Parties in the "Oth(1)" column are: Alaska, Alaskan Independence; Delaware, Non-Partisan Party, Hawaii, Aloha Aina; Massachusetts, Workers; Michigan, Working Class; Minnesota, Legal Marijuana Now; Utah, United Utah; Vermont, Progressive; West Virginia, Americans Coming Together.

Parties in the "Oth(2)" column are: Alaska, Veterans; Minnesota, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis..

"Ind Party" = Independent Party; "Wk Fam" = Working Families; "Consti" = Constitution. States not named had no regularly-scheduled state senate elections in 2018.

In 2018, when these same seats were up, Libertarians received 273,630 votes; Conservative 248,141; independents 437,480; Independence 156,527; Working Families 165,174; Green 67,724; Independent Parties 26,513; Constitution 31,181; Progressive 45,410; other parties 67,665.

Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, and South Carolina don’t elect State Senators in midterm years.

~	Libertaran	Wk Fam	Green	Consti.	Alliance	Conserv.	oth(1)	oth(2)	independent
Alab.	32,127	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alas.	1,782	0	0	231	0	0	1,766	0	31,773
Ariz.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ark.	36,867	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,820
Cal.	44,451	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	107,491
Colo.	19,571	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	539
Conn.	1,692	12,697	84	0	0	0	12,605	27	726
Del	655	0	0	0	0	0	1,251	350	0
Fla.	0	0	4,601	16,857	0	0	0	0	40,569
Ga.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hi.	405	0	1,750	0	0	0	3,323	0	354
Ida.	1,124	0	0	7,973	0	0	0	0	4,194
Ill.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ind.	6,530	0	0	0	0	0	259	0	9,324
Iowa	21,574	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7,258
Kan.	4,584	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ky.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Me.	0	0	586	0	0	0	0	0	24,798
Md.	9,180	0	5,410	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mass.	0	0	2,865	0	0	0	3,945	0	31,260
Mich.	7,112	0	1,498	0	0	0	0	0	0
Minn.	785	0	0	0	4,422	0	3,851	0	2,158
Mo.	11,705	0	0	1,890	0	0	0	0	518
Mont.	2,572	0	259	0	0	0	0	0	1,505
Nev.	14,970	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
N.H	323	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9,020
N.M.	1,319	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10,476
N.Y.	0	169,439	0	0	0	327,337	0	0	5,357
No.C.	19,503	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No.D.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	28,301
Okla.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5,840
Ore.	6,085	0	0	1,073	0	0	2,837	0	0
Pa.	23,670	0	6,538	0	0	0	5,758	0	2,229
R.I.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16,502
So.C.	5,375	0	456	0	564	0	1,080	0	0
So.D.	2,227	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,010
Tenn.	3,052	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	36,725
Tex.	109,957	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,388
Utah	6,809	0	0	4,601	0	0	25,398	0	4,081
Vt.	628	0	0	0	0	0	8,136	0	12,586
Wa.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	54,967
W.V.	548	0	641	0	0	0	2,565	0	1,630
Wis.	3,338	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30,482
Wyo.	4,398	0	0	531	0	0	0	0	8,573
TOT.	404,918	182,136	24,688	33,156	4,786	327,337	72,774	377	496,454

Parties in the "Oth(1)" column are: Ak., Alaskan Independence; Ct., Independent Party; Del., Non-Partisan Party; Hi, Aloha Aina; Ind., Socialism & Liberation; Mass., Workers; Mn., Legal Marijuana Now; Or., Progressive; Pa., Keystone; S.C., Independence; Ut., United Utah; Vt., Progressive, W.V., Americans Coming Together.

Parties in the "Oth(2)" column are: .Connecticut, Forward; Delaware, Independent Party.

If a state has multi-member seats, and the party has more than one candidate in that district, only the vote for the top vote-getter for that party in that district is included.

In 2018, when these same seats were up, independent candidates received 601,971 votes; Libertarians 534,645; Greens 130,882; Working Families 186,050; Constitution 16,537; Conservative 235,807; other parties 108,736.

At the November 2022 election, thirteen independent candidates were elected to state legislatures. They are: Alaska Representatives Daniel Ortiz, Rebecca Himschoot, Calvin R. Schrage, Alyse S. Galvin, Bryce Edgmon, and Josiah Patkotak. Maine: Representatives William Pluecker and Walter Riseman. Massachusetts: Susannah Whipps. Rhode Island: Jon D. Brien. Vermont: Jed Lipsky, Kelly Pajala, and Laura Sibilia. In 2020 there had been fifteen independents elected to state legislatures; in 2018, there had been thirteen.

The only minor party members elected to state office were all from the Vermont Progressive Party. The winners were David Zuckerman, Lieutenant Governor; State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky; and Representatives Brian Cina, Troy Headrick, Kate Logan, Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, and Taylor Small. In 2020, the party had elected two State Senators and six Representatives.

Connecticut has a party-column ballot format, and lists parties in the order in which they placed in the most recent gubernatorial election. In November 2018, the Independent Party had won the third line, displacing the Working Families Party. But in 2022, the Working Families Party placed third, so it regained the third line. The Independent Party, which had always before nominated the Republican gubernatorial nominee, did not do so in 2022, but ran its own nominee, and for the first time polled under 1% of the gubernatorial vote. It got .98%. Because in Connecticut, ballot retention is office-by-office, the Independent Party is no longer qualified for Governor, although it is for all the other statewide state offices.

The December 1, 2022 Ballot Access News carried a chart showing the number of registered voters in each state. However, BAN relied on data for Connecticut furnished by the Secretary of State, which greatly undercounted the number of registered minor party members. Later the Secretary of State issued corrected figures, which were: Independent Party 30,947; Libertarian 3,351; Green 1,251; Working Families 304; various other parties 156. If the chart had included the correct figures, the national total for the Libertarian Party would have been 736,119, and for the Green Party, 235,130.

During January, two Democratic state legislators switched to being independents. On January 12, South Carolina Senator Mia McLeod switched. On January 4, Pennsylvania Representative Mark Rozzi switched, not because he was disenchanted with the Democratic Party, but because a deal had been worked out with some Republican legislators that they would vote for him for Speaker if he became an independent. He did then become Speaker. As far as is known, this is the first time any state has had a legislative chamber headed by an independent.

On December 16, 2022, the Florida Secretary of State recognized the Conservative Party. In Florida, parties get on the ballot merely by submitting a list of their state officers, anda copy of the Bylaws. The Conservative Party of Florida is not affiliated with any other party in any state. Its state chair is Keith C. Westbrook of Gainesville.