On October 13, at noon, the CATO Institute holds a free forum with two authors, both of whom have recently written books on ballot access. The featured authors are Theresa Amato, author of Grand Illusion: the Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny, and James T. Bennett, author of Not Invited to the Party, How Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold. Bennett’s book is not yet in bookstores, but will be soon.

See here for more information. Attendees must register. CATO is at 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20001.

The 5th circuit will hear oral arguments in Brian Moore v Hosemann, 09-60272, on November 4, 2009, in Houston. This is the case on whether the Mississippi Secretary of State should have accepted paperwork to put Brian Moore on the November 2008 ballot. The paperwork arrived ten minutes past 5 p.m. However, the Mississippi election code only gives the date on which such paperwork is due, not the hour. Other election law deadlines in Mississippi do provide a precise hourly deadline, but the law on when presidential elector declarations of candidacy are due does not.

In many states it is common for state elections officials to keep extended hours on deadline days when there is no hour specified.

Brian Moore was the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate last year, but he had also been nominated by the Natural Law Party of Mississippi, which is still ballot-qualified. The only other state in which the Natural Law Party is still ballot-qualified is Michigan. The Michigan unit of the party nominated Ralph Nader for president in 2008.

On September 30, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that no one, not even exit pollsters, should be allowed to approach voters (whether entering or leaving) within 100 feet of a polling place, on election day. The case is In Re: Attorney General’s Directive on Exit Polling, no. A-47. Here is a link to the decision.

Exit polling companies have won many lawsuits in many states, making it possible for exit pollsters to station themselves in close proximity to polling places. Exit pollsters ask voters who are leaving the polling place to fill out a one-page or two-page questionaire, and that is how TV stations can predict the results of elections so quickly. Exit polling also makes it possible for social scientists to know how demographic groups voted.