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Tennessee Ballot Access Bill Advances

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Richard WingerApril 4, 2017

On April 4, the Tennessee House Local Government Committee passed HB 662. It had previously passed a subcommittee on March 28. It lowers the number of signatures for a newly-qualifying party from 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote (33,816 signatures) to exactly 5,000. The vote was 9-3. Thanks to Paul Frankel for this news.

UPDATE: the Tennessee Senate State and Local Government Committee has decided not to act on this bill until next year, because the committee wants to see how the pending Green-Constitution lawsuit turns out in the Sixth Circuit. Thanks to Ken Moellman for that update.

Connecticut Bill to Legalize Out-of-State Petition Circulators

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Richard WingerApril 4, 2017

The Connecticut House Government Administration & Election Committee has introduced HB 7163. It repeals the restriction on out-of-state petitioners. The restriction was declared unconstitutional last year in a Libertarian Party lawsuit in federal court.

Law Professor Op-Ed Criticizes Bills that Deny Ballot Access to Candidates Who Withhold Tax Returns

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Richard WingerApril 3, 2017

Law Professor Derek T. Muller has this op-ed in the New York Times, explaining all the policy reasons why states should not use ballot access restrictions to force presidential candidates to reveal their income tax returns.

Eleventh Circuit Denies Georgia’s Request to Rehear Green Party Ballot Access Case

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Richard WingerApril 3, 2017

On March 31, the Eleventh Circuit denied Georgia’s request for a rehearing in Green Party of Georgia v Kemp, 16-15880. This is the case filed in 2012 by the Green Party and the Constitution Party, against the requirement that their presidential candidates submit approximately 50,000 valid signatures to be on the ballot for president. The parties won the case in U.S. District Court in 2016, and won again in the Eleventh Circuit earlier this year.

The Georgia legislature now really has no reason not to examine the various ballot access bills that were introduced earlier this year. This case is one of the most significant ballot access victories in the last few years.

Maryland Ballot Access Bill Passes Legislature

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Richard WingerApril 3, 2017

On April 3, the Maryland House unanimously passed HB 529. It lowers the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from 1% of the number of registered voters (over 40,000) to exactly 10,000. The bill now goes to the Governor.