State Senator Bill Avery of Nebraska has agreed to introduce a bill to make it easier for minor parties to remain ballot-qualified in Nebraska. He is chair of the Senate Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, the committee that hears election law bills. The bill will provide that when a party meets the 5% vote test, it is then qualified for the next two elections, instead of just the next election.

Other states that provide that when a party meets the vote test, it remains ballot-qualified for the next four years, instead of just two years, are Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The Nebraska vote test was only 1% between 1889 and 1925, but in 1925 it was raised to 5%. It applies to any statewide race. There are always at least four statewide partisan offices up in mid-term years, so it is not all that difficult for a party to poll 5% in a mid-term year. But a typical minor party has a very tough time polling 5% in a presidential election year, when nothing statewide is up in Nebraska except President and, sometimes, U.S. Senate.

If you live in a state with bad ballot access laws, now is the time for you and others who share your interest in improving the laws to be seeking a sponsor for a bill to improve the laws.

On January 3, 2012, Gatewood Galbraith died. He was one of the Reform Party’s most successful nominees for Governor of any state. In 1999, as the Reform Party nominee, he had polled 15.42% for Governor of Kentucky, in a race against a Democrat, a Republican, and a Natural Law Party opponent. The only other Reform Party nominees for Governor of any state who ever polled more than 10% of the vote were Jesse Ventura in Minnesota in 1998 and Tom Golisano in New York in 2002. See this news story. He was 64. The story does not mention the cause of death.

Galbraith also ran as an independent for Governor of Kentucky in November 2011. He did well in that race as well, polling 8.99%. Here is his wiki page. Thanks to Larry West for this news.

The petition deadline for presidential candidates running in the District of Columbia presidential primary is January 4, 2012. The District of Columbia’s web page, which was updated on January 3, show that only four Republican presidential candidates have even picked up blank petition forms. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have filed their petitions, but Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have not, although they did pick up petition blanks earlier. Chances are that Paul and Gingrich will file tomorrow. But it is extremely likely that Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum won’t qualify, because they haven’t started collecting, and the deadline is tomorrow. Republicans need 296 signatures, and only registered Republicans can sign.

President Obama has already filed his signatures, and no one else took out petition blanks to appear on the Democratic primary ballot. Jill Stein has taken out petition blanks to appear on the Green Party presidential primary, but she hasn’t filed them yet. She needs 41 valid signatures of registered Greens.