Illinois Supreme Court Rules that Petitions Are Not Valid if they Don’t Have Enough Valid Signatures

Posted on by March 18, 2015
2

On March 16, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled that candidate petitions are not valid unless they have the statutorily required number of valid signatures.  Jackson-Hicks v The East St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, 2015 IL 118929.  This may seem to be obvious, but the lower state court had ruled last month that if a petition has almost enough valid signatures, it is in substantial compliance with the law.

As a result of the decision, the incumbent Mayor, Alvin L. Parks, Jr., will be removed from the ballot.  The election is April 7 and some absentee votes have already been cast.  Fortunately for Parks, the Illinois deadline for filing as a write-in candidate is only one week before the election, so he still has time to file as a declared write-in candidate.  However, if the ballots (which have already been printed) are not reprinted, anyone who votes for him by placing an “X” in the square next to his name (as printed on the ballot) will have cast an invalid ballot.  See this story.  Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.

UPDATE:  this March 18 story says all the ballots will be reprinted, and Mayor Parks will run as a write-in candidate.

U.S. District Court Upholds Ohio Ballot Access Law on Some Points; Other Issues Still Unresolved

Posted on by March 17, 2015
6

On March 16, a U.S. District Court upheld Ohio’s ballot access law for newly-qualifying parties relative to the claims made by the Ohio Green Party.  The law was passed in 2013 and did not change the 1% (of the last vote cast) petition to get on the ballot, except that it improved the deadline, and added a distribution requirement, and required additional small petitions for convention nominees.  The 2013 law provides that newly-qualifying parties nominate by convention instead of by primary.  Here is the opinion.

Currently the Green Party is the only ballot-qualified party in Ohio other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.  Any other parties will need 30,560 signatures by July 6, 2016.

This decision doesn’t discuss the Libertarian Party’s main argument, which is that the new law violates the Ohio State Constitution.  Normally federal courts can’t decide whether a state law violates a state constitutional provision, but there are exceptions.  The Ohio State Constitution appears to mandate that all parties nominate by primary, and yet the new law says new parties nominate by convention.  A decision addressing the Libertarian Party’s points is likely soon.

Maryland Ballot Access Bill Hearing Goes Well

Posted on by March 16, 2015
Reply

The Maryland House Ways & Means Committee heard HB 626 on February 25.  This is the bill to ease the law on how a party remains on the ballot.  Current law says a party continues to be ballot-qualified if it has registration of 1% of the entire state electorate, which is over 40,000 registered members.  The bill would lower that to exactly 10,000 registered members.

All the committee members who said anything about the bill seemed supportive.  Three individuals testified in favor, and no one testified against.  The Committee may vote on the bill on Tuesday, March 17.

Gallup Poll, for First Time, Shows Neither Major Party Viewed Favorably by As Much as 40% of the Electorate

Posted on by March 16, 2015
4

On March 16, Gallup released this poll, asking voters whether they have a favorable or an unfavorable impression of the Democratic Party, and the same question for the Republican Party.  Gallup has been taking this poll starting in 1992.  For the first time in the history of this poll, neither major party registers a favorability rating of even 40%.  Many years ago, both major parties had positive ratings above 60%.

If the United States had nondiscriminatory election laws and practices relating to ballot access, debates, and campaign finance, it is obvious that new parties would arise and gain substantial support, just as they have in Great Britain and Canada.

Even now, the United States has a record number of one-state parties that are non-ideological and not associated with any particular interest group.  Independence Parties exist in Alabama, Florida,  Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, and South Carolina.  Parties named “Independent Party” exist in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, and Oregon.  The Moderate Party exists in Rhode Island.  South Carolina has a centrist party named “American Party.”  Massachusetts has a centrist party, the United Independent Party.  Colorado has a Unity Party.  Iowa has a New Independent American Party.  New Jersey has the D-R Party.  The United States had a centrist, non-ideological party called Americans Elect during 2010, 2011, and the early months of 2012, but it no longer exists.  In the past there were very few parties, either state or national, that were non-ideological and didn’t represent a particular interest group.  The birth and growth of such parties is a sign of the unhappiness with the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.  Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.