Here is the column. And, thanks to Independent Political Report for giving us the heads up on this.
I wish I could be as optimistic as Colin Pascal. Legislators are slowly ratcheting up ballot access barriers. It will take more people willing to work for ballot access reform, as well as electoral changes to move away from our Single Member Plurality elections in this nation, in my opinion, which is not addressed in this oped.
Columnist Cameron Smith opines that if conservatives want to raise verification standards for voter registration concomitant with that is a responsibility to help people meet those standards.
I also thank Mr. Smith for using the term “voting access,” and not “ballot access,” a term that should be reserved for candidates’ ballot access.
The following was received in a Democracy Docket email of May 4, 2026:
Sometimes news is not a surprise, and this is such a story. Four US House seats may flip to Republican candidates with the bill that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed today.
Here is a story from Politico.
Thanks again to Political Wire, where I first saw this, for doing what you do!
Here is the announcement from the League of Women Voters of California. The first link in the LWVCA announcement takes one to the Ballotpedia page that explains the implications of Yes or No votes on this initiative.
This is one more instance of a troubling and growing trend of conflating the term “Ballot Access” with “Voters’ Rights.” I (and, I do believe, Richard Winger) think that the term ballot access should continue to address candidates’ ability to be on ballots, and that the term “Voters’ (or Voting) Rights” refers to the ability of the electorate to cast a vote.
We think the cause of a robust and effective democracy would be served by adhering to that demarcation.
