2014 Pennsylvania Statewide Minor Party Petition Requirement Likely to be 20,000 Or Less

Posted on by May 19, 2013
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The number of signatures needed for statewide minor party and independent candidates in Pennsylvania in 2014 depends on voter turnout in November 2013 for Judge of the Superior Court. The number of votes cast in Pennsylvania’s statewide odd-year partisan judicial elections is usually low. The lower the turnout in these odd year elections, the lower the number of signatures required in the following year’s more important even-year election.

Because there is only one partisan statewide race on the Pennsylvania ballot in November 2013, and that is not for Supreme Court Justice, but just for Superior Court, voter turnout is likely to be even lower than normal. The formula for the number of signatures in 2014 is 2% of the highest vote-getting winning candidate’s vote in November 2013. That number will probably be slightly under 20,000. The number required in 2010 was 19,056, but the number required in 2006 was 67,070. The 2006 requirement was far higher because there were no statewide races in 2005, so the formula required looking back to the 2004 election, which had a far bigger turnout.

Oregon Omnibus Election Law Bill May be Amended to Improve Ballot Access

Posted on by May 19, 2013
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Oregon SB 146, one of the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bills, may be amended to provide that once a party meets the vote test, it remains ballot-qualified for the next two elections, instead of just the next election. The Senate Rules Committee will consider this amendment on May 22.

If this idea is signed into law, it would accentuate a trend that has been growing across the nation, to give minor parties two chances, instead of just one, to poll enough votes to remain on the ballot. Other states in which a party only must meet the vote test every four years, instead of every two years, to remain ballot-qualified (or which provide that once a party qualifies, it remains on for the next two elections) are Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Also, in Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington, the vote test applied to a particular office that only comes up once every four years, and if the group passes the vote test, the effect lasts for four years. Illinois and Texas have two types of vote test, and if one type is met, the effect lasts four years; if the other type is met, that lasts two years. Thanks to Blair Bobier for the Oregon news.

New Jersey Socialist Party Will Fight for Ability of Voters to Register “Socialist”

Posted on by May 18, 2013
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The New Jersey Socialist Party has voted to file a lawsuit against the state, to obtain the ability of voters to register as members of the Socialist Party. In 2001 the state appeals court ruled that it is unconstitutional to force all voters to register only “Democratic”, “Republican” or “independent.” In response, the state started letting voters register into the parties that had filed that lawsuit, but no others. The 2001 lawsuit had been filed by the Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform Parties.

Some years later the Conservative Party of New Jersey filed a similar lawsuit, and the state then conceded and agreed to let voters register into the Conservative Party. But in all these years, the state has never amended its statute to update its policy on how a group may qualify to let voters register into such a group. The state has also informed the Socialist Party that it is not entitled to relief, so the only option seems to be a lawsuit.