23 Presidential Candidates Are on Ballot in at Least One State

Posted on by October 27, 2008
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This year, 23 presidential candidates are on the ballot in at least one state. That is the highest in U.S. history except for 1992, when there were also 23. Generally there are more such candidates in periods of great public unhappiness.

Here is a list, with the predominant party label for each, and the percentage of the voters that will see their names on the ballot:

Barack Obama, Democratic, 100.0%
John McCain, Republican, 100.0%
Bob Barr, Libertarian, 94.5%
Ralph Nader, independent, 85.2%
Cynthia McKinney, Green, 70.5%
Chuck Baldwin, Constitution, 59.8%
Gloria La Riva, Socialism and Liberation, 26.8%
Roger Calero or his stand-in James Harris, Socialist Workers, 25.0%
Brian Moore, Socialist, 21.5%
Alan Keyes, America’s Independent Party, 18.1%
Charles Jay, Boston Tea, 10.0%
Gene Amondson, Prohibition, 9.6%
Thomas Robert Stevens, Objectivist, 8.0%
Richard Duncan, independent, 4.6%
John Joseph Polachek, New, 4.3%
Jeffrey Boss, Vote Here, 3.0%
Jeffrey Wamboldt, We the People, 2.5%
Ron Paul, Taxpayers/Constitution, 2.0%
Jonathan E. Allen, HeartQuake ’08, 1.7%
Bradford Lyttle, U.S. Pacifist, 1.7%
Frank McEnulty, unaffiliated, 1.7%
Ted Weill, Reform, .9%
George Phillies, Libertarian, .6%

Arkansas Supreme Court Won’t Put Dwayne Dobbins on Ballot

Posted on by October 27, 2008
Reply

On October 27, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Dwayne Dobbins should not be on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee for state rep, district. Dobbins v Arkansas Democratic Party, 08-1225. The Court did not reach the merits, but said he had waited too long to complaint, and that he should have objected within 20 days after the party ruled against him. He filed his lawsuit on October 10. Here is the 5-page decision.

This news means that the Green Party nominee, Richard Carroll, is the only name on the ballot, although two write-in candidates are running against him.

Arkansas Supreme Court Won't Put Dwayne Dobbins on Ballot

Posted on by October 27, 2008
Reply

On October 27, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Dwayne Dobbins should not be on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee for state rep, district. Dobbins v Arkansas Democratic Party, 08-1225. The Court did not reach the merits, but said he had waited too long to complaint, and that he should have objected within 20 days after the party ruled against him. He filed his lawsuit on October 10. Here is the 5-page decision.

This news means that the Green Party nominee, Richard Carroll, is the only name on the ballot, although two write-in candidates are running against him.

Alameda County Republican Chair Tries to Invalidate Election Results for Party Office on Ballot Access Grounds

Posted on by October 27, 2008
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California election law requires candidates for partisan public office, or for party office, to have been registered members of their own party for at least three months, before they file in their own party’s primary. Also they must not have been a member of any other qualified party for the preceding year.

In this year’s June primary for party office, some candidates for Republican County Central Committee were placed on the ballot, even though they did not meet the prior affiliation requirement. They were elected. Now, the chair of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee is trying to get them removed. The case was filed July 25, 2008 and is Cummings v Stanley, Alameda County Superior Court, no. 08-400144. Here is a San Francisco Chronicle story about the case. A hearing will be held November 12.

Generally, when candidates who were elected were then charged with having been placed on the ballot improperly, courts hold that the matter is moot. On the other hand, there have been instances when an initiative passed, and was then held to have been placed on the ballot improperly, and sometimes courts have then invalidated the initiative.

U.S. Supreme Court May Decide Whether to Hear Ohio Case on Paying Petitioners per Signature

Posted on by October 27, 2008
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The U.S. Supreme Court has put Ohio v Citizens for Tax Reform on its conference agenda for November 7, 2008. The decision as to whether the Court will hear the case will probably be public on November 10, 2008. The case concerns whether the Constitution protects the right of people to pay petition circulators on a per-signature basis. The 6th circuit had struck down Ohio’s ban on that method of payment.