Professor Barry Edwards has published this study which shows that when states list candidates on the ballot in alphabetical order, those whose surnames start with letters near the beginning of the alphabet are more likely to be elected. Thanks to Election Administration Reports for the link.

The South Dakota Secretary of State has determined that the referendum petition concerning this year’s ballot access bill has enough valid signatures, so the voters will vote on the bill on November 8, 2016. The bill, SB 69, was signed into law earlier this year. It makes ballot access worse for newly-qualifying parties, independent candidates, and candidates seeking a place on a primary ballot.

Because the referendum petition has enough valid signatures, the law it challenges won’t go into effect for 2016. The AFL-CIO and the South Dakota Democratic Party did most of the work of collecting the signatures. The requirement was 13,871 signatures, and the campaign submitted 16,819.

Coincidentally, the ACLU is suing over one provision of SB 69, the part of the bill that moves the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties from March 29 to March 1. It seems somewhat likely that the state will now try to persuade the judge to put a freeze on the lawsuit until after the November 8, 2016 election. However, there is at least one precedent from Ohio that says challenged ballot access restrictions are ripe for a court decision, whether that law has been subject to an upcoming referendum or not.

It is also possible the 2016 session of the South Dakota legislature will amend or repeal SB 69. In the recent past, the Arizona and Ohio legislatures repealed restrictive election laws after the legislators learned that the voters had forced a referendum. The legislators in those two states preferred to repeal their own laws rather than face the possibility the voters would reject those laws.