The main story in the printed version of Ballot Access News, June 1, 2007 issue, was the failure of the Oklahoma ballot access case that had been filed in 2004 by the Libertarian Party. On May 14, the Oklahoma Supreme Court had refused to hear the case, even though the evidence showed that Oklahoma is the only state with presidential ballot access that is more difficult than a petition of 2% of the last vote cast. Also the evidence showed that Oklahoma voters in 2004 were the only voters who could not vote for president unless they voted for President Bush or Senator Kerry. One of the sad side-effects was that the Oklahoma mainstream media hadn’t even mentioned the lawsuit outcome.

However, the June 4, 2007 issue of The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City’s leading daily newspaper) does have an editorial, expressing disappointment that the Oklahoma Supreme Court refused to hear the case. See it here. Thanks to D. Frank Robinson for this news.

Ballot Access News sent a copy of the June 1 printed issue to each Oklahoma legislator, and also e-mailed each Oklahoma state legislator (the individual e-mails were sent on June 3). However, the legislative session is over for this year. So far, one State Senator has replied that he does favor ballot access reform.

Alabama’s Constitution says people may not register to vote if they are convicted of crimes of “moral turpitude.” On June 1, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling in Chapman v Gooden, no. 1051712. The ruling says that each county elections office is not free to decide for itself which crimes are crimes of “moral turpitude.” The counties must follow the Attorney General’s opinion on which crimes are covered. This means that certain counties will no longer be able to prevent people from registering to vote if they were convicted of drunk driving or possession of illegal drugs, since the Attorney General’s list doesn’t include those crimes as “moral turpitude” crimes. Other crimes that the Attorney General does not believe involve “moral turpitude” but which certain counties did, are violation of liquor laws, assault and battery, speeding, trepass, attempted burglary, doing business without a license, and aiding a prisoner to escape. People convicted of these crimes can now register to vote in all counties.

In May 2007, the Mayor of Malabar, Florida, changed his registration from “Republican” to “Constitution.” The town has non-partisan elections. The Mayor is Tom Eschenberg. Malabar is near Cape Canaveral.