On October 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a one-sentence order, affirming the decision of the Commonwealth Court in Baylor v Cortes, 3 MAP 2009. One member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Justice J. Michael Eakin, wrote a four-page dissent, saying the Supreme Court should have heard the case.

The plaintiff was on the ballot in November 2008 as the nominee of the “No-Party Party” for State Senate in the 29th district. He got 2.2%, but he got enough votes in two of the counties in the district to meet Pennsylvania’s definition of ballot-qualified party within that district. Normally, a party that meets the vote test does not get automatic ballot status in the next election (unless 15% of the voters in the entire state are registered as members), but in special elections, all parties that meet the vote test are on the ballot automatically. Pennsylvania held a special election in that same State Senate district on March 3, 2009, but the State refused to put the “No Party-Party” on the ballot in that case. The creator of the party, Dennis J. Baylor, had then brought his lawsuit, but it was dismissed in the lower court because of a technicality involving court procedure.

Baylor had asked the State Supreme Court to hear the case, but that court has now refused, although Baylor has asked for reconsideration. His issues are (1) how the vote test applies when a party meets the vote test in some of the counties but not all of them; (2) alternatively, if his party should not have been on the ballot automatically, whether it was constitutional for him be required to re-petition in just three weeks in harsh winter weather; (3) whether the State Constitution really says that voters don’t need to be registered voters to sign ballot access petitions, just that they need to be eligible to register.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also refused Carl Romanelli’s rehearing request on October 17, in the matter of the 2006 Green Party statewide petition. As noted previously in an earlier blog post, it also refused Ralph Nader’s request for rehearing from the 2004 election on October 23.

New York state improved one ballot access law several months ago. Thanks to Richard Cooper for this belated news. On July 28, the Governor signed S1366. It deletes the requirement that an independent candidate’s petition must include language that the circulator is a registered voter in the district that the candidate is running in.

In 2000, the 2nd Circuit ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to require circulators of petitions to get someone on a primary ballot to be a registered voter in that district. And in 2004, a U.S. District Court in New York said it is also unconstitutional for the state to require circulators of independent candidate petitions to be a registered voter in that district. But, the legislature never changed either law. However, it has now changed the law relating to circulators for independent candidate petitions.

In the interim, the disconnect between the actual law (as determined by courts) and what the state petition forms said on them about the circulator, caused problems. In 2005 the highest state court in New York kept a candidate off the general election ballot because her circulator had scratched off the invalid language on the state-printed petition forms. The Court said it was true that the circulator was free to circulate the petition, even though he didn’t live in the district. But it said it was also true that circulators cannot alter the state forms, unless they explain why, and since the circulator had merely scratched off the language saying under penalty of perjury that he lived in the district, but didn’t write a note on each petition form saying why he was scratching it off, that his work was invalid. That case was McGuire v Gamache, 840 NE 2d 107. The vote on the State Court of Appeals was 5-2.

When S.1366 passed the legislature this year, eleven members of the Assembly voted “No.” Thanks to Richard Cooper for this news.

City Hall, a publication in New York city, has this story in its October 28 issue. The story is about the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s candidate for Mayor, Francesca Villar.