Former Congressmember John Conyers died on October 27, at the age of 90. He served in the U.S. House from 1964 until 2017. He was the first member of Congress to ever introduce a federal ballot access bill. He introduced it in 1985, 1987, and 1989. It would have capped the number of signatures for president and U.S. Senate at one-tenth of 1% of the last vote cast, and capped U.S. House petitions at 1,000 signatures.

The bill was never given a vote on the House floor, although in 1989 it did have 40 co-sponsors, including almost all members of the Black caucus. Tne New Alliance Party conceived of the bill in 1984 after running its first presidential nominee, Dennis Serrette, and learning how severe the ballot access laws are in some states. Attorneys for the New Alliance Party, Gary Sinawski and Harry Kresky, helped draft the bill.

Article One of the U.S. Constitution says that congress is permitted to write or supercede state election laws for congressional elections, and congress has passed many laws regulating federal elections. However, ballot access laws are still entirely a matter of state law.

On October 26, the Arkansas Libertarian Party held its nominating convention. Here is a lengthy article about the party’s nominees, and its legal situation, and why it nominated so early.

The New Statesman, a British magazine with a venerable history and a large readership, has this article about U.S. presidential primaries. The article points out that U.S. politicians must spend more time campaigning than the politicians of any other democratic nation, and blames primaries.