The Independent, from Great Britain, has this story about the Green Party of Great Britain. Polls indicate that the party is likely to elect its first member of the House of Commons. The election is May 6.
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David Orr has this letter to the editor in the May 5 Chicago Tribune. Orr is the County Clerk of Cook County, Illinois. He says ballot access should be eased. Orr was elected on the Democratic ticket in 1990, and he has been re-elected every four years, ever since.
I have been paying attention to publicity about ballot access for many decades, and I have never before seen so much attention paid to restrictive ballot access laws during a mid-term year. Presidential election years sometimes also provide much publicity about ballot access laws, especially in 1980, 1992, and 2000. But probably there has never been a mid-term election year in the United States in which so much attention was paid to the ballot access issue. This year, major newspapers in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, have publicized the issue in a supportive way.
The press in Massachusetts and New Hampshire ought to be paying attention, but newspapers in those two states seem to have a blind spot. Massachusetts ballot access to primary ballots is so bad, Massachusetts is the only non-southern state in which most legislative races usually have only one candidate on the November ballot. But no Massachusetts newspaper ever talks about this.
Thanks to Jeff Trigg for the link.
This Los Angeles Times story mentions that the campaign in favor of California’s Proposition 14, the “top-two” ballot measure set for the June 8 ballot, has $2,800,000 on hand. Most of it was raised from wealthy individuals and large corporations, aided by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fund for ballot issues. The story also mentions that the opponents have raised very little money, and therefore backers are optimistic.
There is a vigorous campaign against Proposition 14, carried on around the state in public meetings of civic groups, and in radio debates. In 2004, when another “top-two” measure was on the California ballot, opponents raised $600,000; proponents raised several million dollars; and the measure was defeated.
This Los Angeles Times story mentions that the campaign in favor of California’s Proposition 14, the “top-two” ballot measure set for the June 8 ballot, has $2,800,000 on hand. Most of it was raised from wealthy individuals and large corporations, aided by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fund for ballot issues. The story also mentions that the opponents have raised very little money, and therefore backers are optimistic.
There is a vigorous campaign against Proposition 14, carried on around the state in public meetings of civic groups, and in radio debates. In 2004, when another “top-two” measure was on the California ballot, opponents raised $600,000; proponents raised several million dollars; and the measure was defeated.
The New Mexico Secretary of State has validated the Libertarian Party’s ballot access petition. The party is now considered ballot-qualified for both 2010 and 2012.
However, New Mexico law treats a qualified party that nominates by convention badly. Even though the party is ballot-qualified, it must still submit a separate petition for each of its nominees. The only exception is that presidential nominees don’t need a petition.
A similar law in Maryland was invalidated in 2003, so New Mexico is the only state that requires one petition to qualify a party, and then separate petitions for each of the party’s nominees (a nominee is someone who has already been nominated; this type of petition should not be confused with a petition to place a candidate on a party’s own primary ballot).
The Libertarian Party now is on the statewide ballot in 2010 in 31 states. Exactly four years ago it was on in 28.