Georgia Green Party Considers Attempting to Complete the Statewide Party Petition for 2016

Posted on by March 6, 2015
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The Georgia Green Party has never been on the ballot for statewide office. The law requires 51,912 valid signatures for 2016, and the petition can circulate from April 2015 to July 2016. The party is thinking about working on the petition.

One advantage of the party starting to circulate this petition is that it will obtain evidence about the difficulty of petitioning in Georgia. Shopping centers in Georgia routinely do not permit petitioning on their property. Also, because Georgia doesn’t have the initiative process, and because primary candidates don’t petition to get on the primary ballot, very few Georgia voters ever encounter anyone asking for their signature on a ballot access petition of any type. The Green Party’s experience will enable it to supply evidence in the pending ballot access lawsuit, Green Party of Georgia v Secretary of State, now in U.S. District Court. The judge who has jurisdiction over the case has not done anything with it in the last eight months, but eventually there will be a trial. The judge had originally dismissed the case without a trial, but last year the Eleventh Circuit reversed that and said the party is entitled to a trial. The Constitution Party is a co-plaintiff.

Maine Ballot Access Bill Amended, to Increase its Chances for Passing

Posted on by March 6, 2015
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Maine Representative Ben Chipman (I-Portland) will present his ballot access bill to the Joint Committee on State and Local Government on Monday, March 9, at 10 a.m. The bill, HB 507, makes it easier for a member of a small ballot-qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot. Current law requires 2,000 signatures of party members for statewide office, and 1,000 for U.S. House. This is a problem when a party with its own primary doesn’t have lots of registered voters who can sign such petitions.

The bill, as introduced, altered the requirement by setting a ceiling of 1% of the party’s registered members. But that idea has been removed from the bill. The amended bill keeps the same petition requirements, but says if the party is free to invite independent voters to vote in its primary and to sign nomination petitions for candidates from that party. Maine law already permits a party to invite independents to vote in its primary, so the bill, if enacted, would also let independents sign primary petitions. Thus a member of a small ballot-qualified party would still need 2,000 signatures to run for Governor or U.S. Senator, but at least could get signatures from registered independents. Maine’s independent voters comprise 37% of the state total.

South Dakota House Committee Passes Bill that Makes Ballot Access Worse Three Different Ways

Posted on by March 6, 2015
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On March 6, the South Dakota House State Affairs Committee passed SB 69 by a vote of 10-3. It makes ballot access worse for newly-qualifying parties, for their members seeking a place on a primary ballot, and for independent candidates. The three “no” votes were cast by two Democrats and a Republican. The bill has already passed the Senate, and now goes to the House floor. Chances are, if the bill is enacted, there will be lawsuits alleging parts of it are unconstitutional.

Some Alaska Legislators Not Happy with Libertarian Party Choice for State Campaign Finance Commission

Posted on by March 5, 2015
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As previously reported, last year the Alaska Libertarian Party came in second for Governor of Alaska among the party nominees for that office. That is because the Democrats didn’t have a gubernatorial nominee. Therefore, under Alaska law, the Libertarian Party had the right to choose a nominee for the Commission that regulates campaign finance.

According to this story, the legislators who must approve the appointment aren’t sure they want to appoint Bill McCord, the Libertarian Party’s choice. The story is fairly comprehensive, and says one objection to McCord is that he hasn’t lived in Alaska very long. The story does not say if the position actually has a duration of residency requirement, but probably there is no such requirement. The story also does not say that McCord has been very interested in election law for over twenty-five years. Back in 1991, McCord was a constituent of Congressman Al Swift, who was chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives committee that handled election law bills. McCord helped persuade Swift to hold a hearing on a bill that would have helped minor parties and independent candidates.

South Dakota Bill that Makes Ballot Access More Restrictive has Hearing Friday, March 6

Posted on by March 5, 2015
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The South Dakota House State Affairs Committee hears SB 69 on Friday, March 6, at 7:45 a.m. The hearing is in room 414. The bill injures ballot access three ways: (1) it makes it more difficult for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot; (2) it won’t let members of qualified parties sign for an independent candidate; (3) it moves the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties from March to February.