Alabama Secretary of State Says Write-in Votes Will be Counted if the Number of Write-ins Exceeds the Margin Between the First and Second-Place Finishers

Posted on by November 30, 2017
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According to this story, the Alabama Secretary of State published guidelines for write-in votes recently. The guidelines surprisingly say that if the total number of write-ins is greater than the margin between the candidates who place first and second, they will all be counted.

Alabama doesn’t have any procedure for write-in candidates to file to have their write-ins counted. In the past the counties have mostly counted all write-ins, but the state has not tallied them, so there is never an official statewide total for a write-in candidate running for an office that is statewide or which extends beyond one county.

November 2017 Ballot Access News Print Edition

Posted on by November 30, 2017
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Ballot Access News
November 1, 2017 – Volume 33, Number 6

This issue was printed on white paper.

Table of Contents

  1. NORTH CAROLINA BALLOT ACCESS BILL ENACTED
  2. CALIFORNIA MARCH PRIMARY BILL
  3. U.S. DISTRICT COURT UPHOLDS CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL PETITION
  4. CALIFORNIA EASES BALLOT ACCESS FOR CONGRESS AND STATE OFFICE
  5. U.S. SUPREME COURT WON’T HEAR ARKANSAS BALLOT ACCESS APPEAL
  6. MAINE LEGISLATURE ACTS AGAINST RANKED CHOICE VOTING
  7. HIGH COURT MAY HEAR MINNESOTA POLITICAL CLOTHES CASE
  8. CALIFORNIA WON’T REQUIRE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO REVEAL INCOME TAX
  9. ALASKA DEMOCRATS WIN LAWSUIT
  10. WHEN DID A MINOR PARTY LAST RUN A FULL SLATE FOR U.S. HOUSE?
  11. LAST TIME EACH STATE VOLUNTARILY IMPROVED BALLOT ACCESS FOR MINOR PARTIES OR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES
  12. MAINE LEGISLATOR BECOMES INDEPENDENT
  13. LOUISIANA SPECIAL ELECTION FOR TREASURER
  14. ELECTION RETURNS BOOKS
  15. BERNIE SANDERS WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2018 AS INDEPENDENT
  16. GREEN PARTY HISTORY 2002-2004 AVAILABLE
  17. CALIFORNIA TOP-TWO INITIATIVE
  18. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL

Partisan Control of Virginia House Determined by a Race in Which Ten Votes Separated the Winner from his Nearest Competitor

Posted on by November 30, 2017
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Virginia held a legislative election on November 7, 2017. It appears the new House of Delegates includes 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats. In the 94th district, the tally was: Republican David Yancey 11,601; Democrat Shelly Simonds 11,591; Libertarian Michael Bartley 675.

If Democrats had prevailed in the 94th district, the House of Delegates would have been organized on a bi-partisan sharing agreement. Unlike the State Senate, where the Lieutenant Governor (a Democrat) could break any tie, there is no easy mechanism for the House to avoid a tie. In similar cases in other states, the lower chamber ends up with an agreement for the two major parties to share power equally, sometimes with co-speakers. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

Los Angeles Times Covers Paul Merritt’s Lawsuit over California Secretary of State’s Action in Censoring “Independent Candidate” from His Voter Pamphlet Statement

Posted on by November 29, 2017
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The Los Angeles Times has this on-line article about Paul Merritt, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in California in 2016. California publishes a Voters Pamphlet that is mailed to every registered voter. Candidates for U.S. Congress are permitted to write a campaign statement that is published in the pamphlet, although the candidate must pay for this service. In 2016 Paul Merritt paid for a statement which said in the heading that he is an independent candidate.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla censored out those words, and didn’t even tell Merritt what he had done. Merritt has charged that his free speech was violated, and also his due process was also violated. The lawsuit is still in U.S. District Court. The Los Angeles Times story is the first publicity his lawsuit has had.