Tennessee Lawsuit Likely to be Filed in Mid-June

Posted on by May 27, 2007
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The Tennessee Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties are likely to file a federal lawsuit in June 2007, challenging that state’s procedures for getting a party on the ballot. Tennessee’s petition is so difficult, no group has used it since 1968. It requires a petition signed by 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote. The wording says the signers are members. The deadline is not set forth in the law, but election administrators say it is approximately four months before the primary. Groups that have tried to complete this petition, and failed, include the Constitution Party, the Reform Party, the Populist Party of the 1980’s, and the Green Party.

The only states which have had no qualified parties on the ballot (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) in the last 30 years are Tennessee and New Jersey. Also, Georgia has had no third parties on the ballot who were qualified for district office in over 30 years, but several on the ballot who were qualified for statewide office, including the Libertarian Party continuously since 1988.

COFOE Annual Board Meeting June 16

Posted on by May 27, 2007
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The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) holds its annual Board meeting on Saturday, June 16, at 10 a.m., in New York city. COFOE is 22 years old. It is a loose-knit coalition of the nation’s nationally-organized minor parties, plus other organizations that care about ballot access. This year, the chief topic on the agenda will probably be Oklahoma. Observers to the meeting are expected from the Working Families Party and Unity08.

COFOE is financed by membership dues. Members contribute $25 per year, and in return receive a free subscription to Ballot Access News. COFOE income, though relatively small, has helped finance ballot access lawsuits. When these lawsuits win, the attorney on COFOE’s side receives attorneys’ fees from the states. Then the attorney rebates back to COFOE any contributions from COFOE.

Unfortunately, even though two important ballot access lawsuits that had been backed by COFOE won last year, neither of the states involved (Ohio and Illinois) has paid COFOE’s attorneys their attorneys’ fees yet. Ohio says the Secretary of State’s budget is empty and the attorney must wait for the new fiscal year, which starts July 2007. Illinois admits it owes attorneys fees but is fighting over the amount, a fight which may take months to resolve. In the meantime, COFOE’s treasury is almost empty. This is a serious problem. COFOE intends to arrange an amicus curiae brief in the Pennsylvania ballot access case soon to be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, COFOE has already committed to helping launch a lawsuit against North Carolina’s law on how independent candidates for US House get on the ballot (the law is so severe, no independent candidate for US House has ever appeared on a government-printed ballot in North Carolina).

Please consider joining COFOE. One can send a check made out to COFOE for $25 and postally mailing it to PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147. Or, one can use PayPal. If you wish to use PayPal, contact Richard Winger at richardwinger@yahoo.com for instructions. As a member, you will receive Ballot Access News in the postal mail. The June 1 issue is in the mail now, and will be of special interest to anyone who is interested in Oklahoma.

New Hampshire Senate Committee Passes Bill to Give State More Flexibility to Change Presidential Primary Date

Posted on by May 25, 2007
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On May 24, the New Hampshire Senate Election Laws & Internal Affairs Committee passed HB 272. It gives the Secretary of State even more flexibility to set the date of the presidential primary. It lets him choose any day of the week, not just a Tuesday. It removes from the law the filing deadline for presidential candidates and delegates, so that the Secretary of State is free to set those deadlines at the last minute.

US House Likely to Vote on Paper Trails Next Week

Posted on by May 25, 2007
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It is likely that the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on HR 811 during the last three days of May. This is Congressman Rush Holt’s bill to ban vote-counting machines that produce no paper trail. Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) recently introduced a somewhat similar bill, HR 2360, to counteract HR 811. HR 811 would take effect before the November 2008 election, but HR 2360 would put off implementation until 2010.

Also, on May 25, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Christopher Dodd introduced S1487, which also outlaws machines with no paper trail starting in 2010. It is co-sponsored by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Patrick Leahy, Edward Kennedy, Dan Inouye, Robert Menendez, Sherrod Brown, and Bernie Sanders.

New Voting Machines Helped Write-in Candidates in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Posted on by May 25, 2007
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Pennsylvania held primary elections on May 15, 2007, for statewide judicial office, and local partisan office. Luzerne County was using electronic vote-counting machines for the first time. Previously the county had used old-fashioned mechanical voting machines.

At the May 15 primary, 32 candidates won enough write-ins to be considered nominees of either the Democratic or Republican Parties. Luzerne County elections officials said the large number of write-ins was due to the fact that it is so much easier for voters to cast write-ins with the new machines, compared to the old machines. The new machines have an electronic keyboard which not only makes it obvious how to do a write-in, but eliminates the problems of poor penmanship.

The most important office for which voters nominated a write-in candidate was Luzerne County District Attorney. Republican write-in candidate Jackie Carroll needed 250 write-ins to be considered nominated, and received 455 write-ins.