On January 26, Americans Elect started circulating its petition for party status in Wisconsin. 10,000 signatures are needed. Americans Elect didn’t do this petition last year because Wisconsin law won’t let the party petition circulate until January 1 of an election year. It is due May 1.

Currently, the only qualified parties in Wisconsin are Democratic, Republican, and Constitution. The Green and Libertarian Parties both failed the vote test in 2010 and went off the ballot. Greens didn’t run anyone for statewide office in 2010, and Libertarians only ran a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and he did not get as much as 1% of the vote.

The January 28 print edition of the Washington Post carries this letter to the editor from Ralph Nader. Nader commends U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for fighting for voting rights for voters, but points out that the administration has been silent about ballot access for candidates. Nader also advocates that Congress pass a national ballot access bill for federal elections. Bills to do this have been introduced in nine sessions of Congress during the last 26 years. They were introduced first by John Conyers (D-Michigan), then Tim Penny (D-Minnesota), and then by Ron Paul (R-Texas). No such bill is pending in the current session of Congress. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

On January 27, the Virginia House Privileges and Elections Committee amended HB 1133 and passed it by a vote of 15-7. The original bill said parties could set their own ballot access rules for presidential primaries. The amended bill eliminates any mention of political party choice, and instead says that any resident of Virginia may circulate a petition anywhere in the state, for all office. The bill does bar minors and ex-felons from circulating, however, unless the ex-felon has had voting rights restored.

The bill has an urgency clause, so assuming it passes, it will go into effect in time to be helpful in the 2012 June primary and the general election. However, it does nothing to solve the problem that minor party and independent presidential petitions can’t circulate now, because those petitions have a residency requirement for presidential elector candidates, and the U.S. House district boundaries are still unknown. Although the bill setting up new districts did pass, it is being challenged in court and also faces Justice Department approval, which will not be easy to obtain. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.