Five Parties Will Have Nominees in Mississippi U.S. House Races

Posted on by March 6, 2010
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In Mississippi, all qualified parties nominate by primary. However, a primary is not actually held for parties with no primary contests. Because the ballot-qualified minor parties in Mississippi never have contests in their primaries, they in effect have already nominated for 2010. Primary date in Mississippi in 2010 is June 1.

The Reform Party has U.S. House nominees in all four Mississippi districts. The Libertarian Party has nominees in two districts, and the Constitution Party has one nominee. See this story.

U.S. House is the only partisan office up in Mississippi this year. There is no U.S. Senate race up, and state elections are held in the odd years before presidential election years, i.e, 2011. Thanks to Steve Rankin for the link.

Briefs Filed in North Carolina Supreme Court in Ballot Access Case

Posted on by March 6, 2010
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The Libertarian/Green Party brief in the North Carolina Supreme Court, in the ballot access case, has been filed. Here is the 36-page brief. The basic message is that North Carolina has no state interest in requiring so many signatures for a new or previously unqualified party to get on the ballot. North Carolina requires more signatures than any other state except California. The brief also attacks other characteristics of the law, such as the ban on letting voters register into unqualified parties, and the inability of a party that is not qualified statewide to get on in just part of the state.

Here is the amicus brief of nine organizations in support of the case. This brief is well worth using for activists in any state with severe ballot access laws. It explains how society is better off when minor parties and independent candidates are able to get on the ballot. It is filed by: the Southern Coalition for Social Justice; Democracy North Carolina; FairVote Action; the North Carolina League of Women Voters; Common Cause of North Carolina; North Carolinians for Free & Proper Elections; the John Locke Foundation; the North Carolina NAACP; and the North Carolina Center for Voter Education. The text is 14 pages long, but the link also includes the Motion asking the Court to let this amicus brief be filed. Thanks to Sean Haugh for these briefs.

Utah Legislature Passes Bill Making it Easier for Voters to Retract their Signatures from Initiative and Referendum Petitions

Posted on by March 5, 2010
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On March 3, the Utah legislature sent SB 275 to the Governor. It makes it easier for people who signed an initiative or referendum to remove their signatures. The bill goes into effect the moment the Governor signs it into law.

An initiative petition is currently circulating in Utah, to toughen ethics standards for state legislators. See this op-ed by John W. Milliken in the Salt Lake Tribune. Milliken identifies the motivation for SB 275 as a desire to stop that particular initiative. There are court precedents that hold that it violates due process to make ballot access more difficult in the middle of any particular petition drive.

Ballot Access Bill Introduced in Missouri House

Posted on by March 5, 2010
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Last month, several Missouri state representatives introduced HB 2210 in the House. It is identical to SB 796. Both bills delete the requirement that petitions to create new ballot-qualified parties must list the party’s candidates for presidential elector, and the party’s presidential candidate, on the petition.

The only reason the law requires the presidential candidate, and the presidential elector candidates, on the petition for a new party is because of a drafting error back in 1993. Under current law, the party petition doesn’t list the party’s candidates for any other offices. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news, and also for bringing these bills into existence.

Ohio Releases Candidate List for May 2010 Primary

Posted on by March 5, 2010
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The Ohio Secretary of State has released a list of candidates who will be on the May ballot, in primaries for each of the six qualified parties. No statewide race will have more than four nominees in November, unless some independent candidates qualify (that deadline is in May), or unless some candidates are nominated by write-in votes at one of the primaries. The general election race for Governor/Lieutenant Governor will have nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian Parties. The U.S. Senate race will have nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Constitution, and Socialist Parties.