Joe Biden Was Listed First on the Ballot of Seventeen States; Trump in Fifteen

Posted on by November 19, 2020
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Every state has its own law on the order of candidates on general election ballots. In November 2020, Joe Biden was listed first in seventeen states; President Trump was listed first in fifteen states. Howie Hawkins was listed first in two states, New Mexico and South Carolina. Jo Jorgensen was listed first in the District of Columbia. Brock Pierce was listed first in Utah.

Biden benefited in some states because Biden’s surname is near the top of the alphabet.

In another thirteen states, names are rotated (although in Illinois and Iowa, it is only the nominees of the qualified parties that are rotated, and others are placed beneath them). In Arkansas and New Jersey, each county decides ballot order for itself, although in New Jersey the major parties are always listed first.

The December 1, 2020 print edition of Ballot Access News will have a chart showing the order of presidential candidates in each state.

American Independent Party Leaders Notice that 53 California County Election Offices Failed to Print Legally Required Label on Presidential Ballots

Posted on by November 18, 2020
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California Elections Code 13205 says, in part, “Additional instructions to voters shall appear on the ballot…In elections when electors of President and Vice President of the United States are to be chosen, there shall be placed upon the ballot an instruction as follows: ‘To vote for all of the electors of a party, stamp a cross in the square opposite the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of that party. A cross stamped in the square opposite the name of a party and its presidential and vice presidential candidate is a vote for all the electors of that party, but no other candidates.'”

Leaders of the American Independent Party have noticed that 53 of the 58 counties did not include this instruction on the November 3, 2020 ballot. The only counties that did include the language are Alpine, Inyo, Kern, Nevada, and Santa Barbara.

My own sample ballot, from San Francisco, merely says, “Federal”. Below that is “President and Vice President.” Below that, “Vote for One Party”. Below that are the names of candidates for president and vice president, with a party label. The words “presidential electors” do not appear. I checked my collection of ballots and it appears the last time a San Francisco County ballot included the words “presidential electors” was the 1972 ballot. Thus, the problem seems to be an old one.

Most states have laws that require general election ballots in presidential years to explain that the voters are really voting for elector candidates.

Eleventh Circuit Won’t Rehear Florida Democratic Party Lawsuit on Ballot Order

Posted on by November 17, 2020
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On October 28, the Eleventh Circuit refused to rehear Jacobson v Lee, 19-14552. This is the Democratic Party’s Florida lawsuit on ballot order. The Democratic Party had lost in the Eleventh Circuit earlier. The Eleventh Circuit said that ballot order cases cannot be heard in federal court because the issue is a “political question” and it is impossible for courts to order objective relief. That opinion is sharply at variance with 50 years of jurisprudence in other federal courts. It is possible the Democratic Party will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

The Florida law says the party that won the last gubernatorial election will enjoy the top line.

The Eleventh Circuit refusal to rehear the case also caused the Georgia Democratic Party case to be dismissed. That case is S.P.S. ex rel Short v Raffensperger, in the northern district.

The Democratic Party’s West Virginia ballot order lawsuit is pending in the Fourth Circuit. Nelson v Warner, 20-1860. The party’s Arizona lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in July 2020.