Missouri Legislature Passes Ballot Access Bill

Posted on by May 3, 2012
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On May 3, the Missouri Senate unanimously passed HB 1236. The bill is now through the legislature. It removes the typographical error in the law that required petitions to create a new ballot-qualified party to include the presidential candidate and the presidential elector candidates (if the group intended to run for those offices). This was an odd requirement, because the group didn’t need to list any of its nominees for other office on that same petition. No one ever intended the law to require the names of the presidential electors on the petition; that only existed because of a drafting error in 1993. It has taken almost 20 years to fix this irritating problem. Thanks to Ken Bush for the news, and also for persistently lobbying the legislature to achieve this result.

Oklahoma House Rejects the Senate Amendments that Degraded the Ballot Access Bill

Posted on by May 3, 2012
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On May 2, the Oklahoma House rejected the Senate amendments to HB 1058. HB 1058 is the bill that was introduced in 2011 in the House to ease ballot access for newly-qualifying parties. As passed last year in the House, the bill cut the number of signatures from 5% of the last vote cast (currently 51,739 signatures) to exactly 22,500. This year the Senate passed the bill, but amended it so it does not decrease the number of signatures at all in presidential years; as amended, all the bill does is cut the number of signatures in mid-term years.

The action of the House, on May 2, 2012, rejecting the Senate amendments, is a good sign. It seems to show the House still likes the original House version, which is a much better version. The House has appointed its members to a Conference Committee.

Country Party Petition is Approved by Wyoming Secretary of State

Posted on by May 2, 2012
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On May 2, the Wyoming Secretary of State announced that the Country Party petition has enough valid signatures. The Secretary of State put out this press release, which says that having six parties on the ballot this year is a Wyoming record.

The press release is wrong. In 1936 Wyoming also had six parties on the ballot: Democratic, Republican, Union, Socialist, Communist, and Prohibition. However, the 2012 election has the highest number of ballot-qualified parties Wyoming has ever had. The 1936 minor parties appeared on the November ballot but they weren’t ballot-qualified; they didn’t meet the Wyoming definition of “party.” Back in 1936, unqualified parties could list their nominees on the general election ballot, with the party label, if they submitted 100 signatures.

Arizona Independent Candidate Petition Requirements are Much Higher This Year Than in the Past

Posted on by May 2, 2012
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The number of signatures needed for an independent candidate in Arizona will be 31,111 valid signatures this year, for statewide office. The formula is 3% of the number of active registered voters who are not members of a qualified party. However, any registered voter may sign an independent candidate’s petition.

The Arizona law is irrational, because independents for statewide office now need substantially more signatures than a newly-qualifying party needs. Newly-qualifying parties this year need 23,041 valid signatures. The independent requirement is now 35% higher than the requirement for parties.

However, independent candidates in Arizona this year can easily get on the November ballot, without any petition at all, for any partisan office other than President, if they are willing to register as members of Americans Elect. Anyone can be a write-in candidate in the Americans Elect primary on August 28, for any partisan office (other than President), if that individual registers as a member of the party, and in June files a write-in declaration of candidacy in that party’s primary. If only one person does this, he or she can receive the nomination with only a single write-in vote.

John Wolfe, Jr., to Sue Louisiana Democratic Party This Week if He is Not Awarded 3 Delegates

Posted on by May 2, 2012
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John Wolfe, Jr., polled over 15% of the vote in the March 24, 2012 Louisiana Democratic presidential primary in three congressional districts. Under state law and under state party rules, that should entitle him to name 3 delegates to the Democratic national convention in September. However, so far, the state Democratic Party has not let him designate any delegates. According to this story, he will file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on May 4, unless the state party changes it mind.

Wolfe is an attorney. The state party has never claimed that he isn’t a bona fide Democrat. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the link.