Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee Holds Hearing on Ballot Access Bill

Posted on by September 22, 2015
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On September 22, the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee held a hearing on SB 495, the ballot access bill. The Committee has eleven members but only two of them attended. Four witnesses spoke in favor of the bill. A law professor, Michael R. Dimino, testified against the bill, but he didn’t understand that if the bill were passed, minor parties with at least 5,000 registrations (approximately) would no longer need to submit petitions. He testified first, and then left, so he never even learned that his understanding of the bill is severely flawed.

Senator Mike Folmer, chairman of the committee and the bill’s sponsor, said at the conclusion of the hearing that action will be taken on the bill. Presumably that means he expects the bill to pass out of the committee. The reason attendance was so poor was that today is not a day when the legislature is in session, so most Senators were not in the state capital.

Pennsylvania Minor Parties Ask Third Circuit to Settle Ballot Access Case Quickly

Posted on by September 22, 2015
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On September 22, the three minor parties who won in U.S. District Court in July against Pennsylvania’s ballot access laws asked the Third Circuit to summarily affirm that U.S. District Court decision. The issue is Pennsylvania’s unique system of putting petitioning groups at risk of paying huge court costs if their petitions don’t have enough valid signatures. The case is Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Cortes, 13-1952.

When the state filed its appeal with the Third Circuit earlier this month, it raised only procedural issues with the case. But now the minor parties are pointing out that those procedural issues were already raised in the Third Circuit in this same case in 2014, and the Third Circuit agreed with the minor parties that this case does not have procedural problems. Therefore, the minor parties ask the Third Circuit to terminate the state’s appeal summarily. If that request is granted, it is likely to be granted very soon.

Albany Times Union Carries Discussion of Why the Women’s Equality Party is in Legal Trouble

Posted on by September 21, 2015
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Casey Seiler has this interesting analysis of the legal problems of the Women’s Equality Party, in the Albany, New York Times Union. Seiler suggests that the Attorney General and the Comptroller both have motives for their refusal to sign any documents that would give the Women’s Equality Party a legitimate set of state party officers.