See this story, which has the latest developement in the chaotic South Carolina ballot access story. Also, see this story.
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Connecticut, in conformity with federal law, has already mailed its overseas absentee ballots. Because the State Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on which party should be listed first on the ballot, the Connecticut overseas absentee ballots this year are all blank. Accompanying the ballots are lists of offices being voted for, and the list of candidates for each office. Each voter will vote by writing in his or her choices on the blank ballot.
This story describes how a city initiative in Springfield, Missouri, to reform the penalty for marijuana possession gathered enough valid signatures to be on the ballot. Then the city council itself passed the same measure, which removed it from the ballot. Then, after it was too late for the popular vote this year, the same city council repealed the measure. Further legal action is expected.
On September 20, a Maine Superior Court ruled that Ralph Nader’s lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and some of its allies may proceed to a jury trial. The trial is many months away, and will be proceeded by discovery. This means that Nader’s attorneys will be able to take depositions from witnesses and defendants and learn previously unknown information about “the ballot project”, the 2004 Democratic Party plan to keep Nader off the ballot in as many states as possible. The case is Nader v The Maine Democratic Party, Washington County, Maine, macsc-cv-2009-57.
This trial is only possible because Maine has a six-year statute of limitations. The 15-page order says, “This Court is satisfied…that Plaintiffs have made a prima facie showing of both a civil conspiracy, including an ulterior motive, and the improper use of discovery and subpoenas to establish an abuse of process claim.” Here is a brief newspaper story about the order. Here is a press release from Ralph Nader’s attorneys.
Credico v New York State Board of Elections will be argued in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on November 1 at 2 pm. This is the case filed almost two years ago, over whether a candidate nominated by two unqualified parties can be listed twice on the ballot, or whether the candidate can only be listed once.
The case began when both the Libertarian Party, and the Anti-Prohibition Party, nominated Randy Credico for U.S. Senate in 2010. Even though New York state election law lets a candidate be listed on the general election ballot when he or she was nominated by two qualified parties, and also lets a candidate be listed twice on the ballot when nominated by one qualified party and one nonqualified party, the state won’t permit a candidate to be listed twice if he was nominated by two unqualified parties.