Independent Candidate in Missouri Gets on Ballot After Catching Error in Secretary of State’s Calculation of How Many Signatures Needed

Posted on by September 1, 2010
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Nick Gartelos, an independent candidate for the Missouri State Senate, is now safely on the November ballot, but only because he caught an error in the state’s determination of how many signatures he needed.  See this story.  Independent candidates for district office in Missouri need a petition of 2% of the last vote cast for that office.  The Secretary of State forgot that State Senate seat had been most recently filled in a special election.  She calculated 2% on the last regularly-scheduled election for that seat, but the candidate noticed the error.

This story is somewhat similar to the method by which former Congressman Jim Traficant got on the Ohio general election ballot this year as an independent candidate.  He had to contest the calculation of how many signatures were legally required.  Ohio elections officials had initially miscalculated the required number of signatures.

Missouri State Court Invalidates Requirement that Signatures are Invalid if Circulators Didn’t Register with the State

Posted on by September 1, 2010
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On August 31, a Missouri state circuit court judge ruled that election officials may not disqualify signatures on petitions, just because the circulator didn’t register with the state.  The law still stands that says circulators must register with the state.  But the judgment says that just because the circulator did not register with the state, that cannot be the basis for invalidating signatures.  The Court focused on the harm done to the people who sign petitions, when their signatures aren’t counted, through no fault of their own.

The Secretary of State will appeal directly to the Missouri Supreme Court, but meanwhile will certify the particular initiative for the November 2010 ballot.  The case is McClelland and Vote Yes to Stop Double Taxation Committee v Secretary of State, Cole County, 10ac-cc-00504.  Thanks to Bryan Sells for this news.

U.S. District Court in Virginia Explains Why It Upheld Residency Requirement for Circulators

Posted on by August 31, 2010
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On August 23, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, a Bush Jr. appointee, ruled from the bench in Lux v Rodrigues, upholding a Virginia law that says circulators for a U.S. House candidate may not work outside their home district.  On August 26, he issued this written opinion.

On August 27, the plaintiffs filed an appeal with the 4th circuit.

The U.S. District Court decision completely misses the point that the restriction violates the circulator’s free speech rights.  The decision does not talk about circulator’s rights.  It says the law is necessary to keep the ballot from being too crowded.  The decision ignores the evidence that no U.S. House race in Virginia history has ever had more than six candidates on a government-printed general election ballot.  Thanks to Gary Sinawski for the news.

Florida Legislator Who Lost Primary Files Lawsuit to Void Primary Results Because Opponent Didn’t Report Finances

Posted on by August 31, 2010
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On August 31, Florida Representative Kevin Ambler filed a lawsuit in state court to void the results of the August 24 primary in the State Senate race in the 12th district (Tampa area).  Ambler lost the Republican primary by a vote of 14,603 for himself, to 18,547 votes for Jim Norman.

The lawsuit charges that Norman didn’t report a very large business transaction on his campaign finance reports, and therefore the primary was tainted and should be reversed.  See this story.

No one filed to be on the ballot in any party in this race except these two Republicans.  There are two declared write-in candidates, however.