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Congressional Ballot Access Bill is HR 3600

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Richard WingerSeptember 20, 2007

Congressman Ron Paul’s bill to outlaw restrictive ballot access for independent candidates for the US House, and for the US House nominees of unqualified parties, is HR 3600. It sets a ceiling of 1,000 signatures. The bill does not include US Senate candidates or presidential candidates.

There is more need for ballot access reform for US House, than for the other federal offices. The state ballot access laws for US House are so bad, no independent candidate for that office has qualified under Georgia’s existing law since 1964, and no minor party candidate has qualified in a regularly-scheduled election since 1942. Also, North Carolina has never had an independent candidate for US House on its ballot, and South Carolina has never had an independent candidate for US House on its ballot.

The South Carolina historical record might easily confuse anyone, because in the past an Independent Party was on the ballot in South Carolina. When one looks at old election returns for South Carolina, one needs to know that the South Carolina term for “independent candidate” is “candidate nominated by petition.”

Other states with extremely severe ballot access requirements for independents for U.S. House are California and Illinois.

Tennessee Lawsuit Delayed

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Richard WingerSeptember 20, 2007

The September 1, 2007 printed Ballot Access News said that the Tennessee Green, Libertarian and Constitution Parties were about to file a lawsuit, challenging the Tennessee definition of “party”. The law is so restrictive, no party other than the Democratic or Republican Parties has petitioned in that state successfully since 1968.

Unfortunately, the veteran ballot access attorney who was doing the lawsuit was severely injured last month, and he won’t be able to file the lawsuit. Fortunately, another experienced attorney has stepped in.

Massachusetts Legislative Hearing on National Popular Vote Bills

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Richard WingerSeptember 20, 2007

On September 19, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws held a hearing on the National Popular Vote Plan bills, H678, H710, S445, and S452. Maryland State Senator Jamin Raskin, and California attorney Barry Fadem, testified in favor of the plan. As is customary in Massachusetts legislative hearings, no vote was taken on the hearing day itself. Massachusetts has two-year legislative sessions.

Senate Rules Committee Hearing on Presidential Primary Timing Bill

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Richard WingerSeptember 19, 2007

The U.S. Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on S1905 on September 19. One can read the statements of the 4 witnesses at this link. Three witnesses testified in favor of S1905, which tells the states and the major parties when to hold their presidential primaries and caucuses. One witness, Political Science Professor William Mayer, testified against it. The most interesting part of the Mayer testimony is the last third, which documents that the random selection of which region of the country goes first, would have a big impact on which individual is nominated. For example, he makes a strong case that Bill Clinton would not have been nominated by the Democratic Party in 1992 if S1905 had been in existence at that time, and if the random drawing of regions put the South last.

The Rules Committee link to the actual verbal transcript of the hearing itself (which would include questions and comments by the Senators) should be posted in a week. The existing link to the transcript actually refers to a completely different hearing on another subject, held in June 2007. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

Ron Paul Re-Introduces Ballot Access Bill in Congress

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Richard WingerSeptember 19, 2007

On September 19, Congressman Ron Paul introduced a bill, outlawing restrictive ballot access laws for minor party and independent candidates for the U.S. House. He had previously introduced this bill in past sessions of Congress. Before he had done so, a somewhat more comprehensive bill had been introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan), in 1985, 1987 and 1989. Also during the early 1990’s, the bill had been introduced by Congressman Tim Penny (D-Minnesota, no longer in Congress).

Article One of the U.S. Constitution explicitly gives Congress the authority to override state election laws pertaining to Congressional elections. Ron Paul’s bill does not yet have a bill number.