The Oklahoma Attorney General asked for and received a 3-month delay in the pending Oklahoma ballot access case, which is called Libertarian Political Organization v Clingman. A pre-trial conference scheduled for September 7 was moved to November 30 at the state’s request. This may mean that Oklahoma officials are seriously considering having the legislature improve the law, once the legislature convenes next year.
On September 7, the 2nd circuit refused to expedite Tom Ognibene’s ballot access case in New York. This is the case that challenges the requirement that candidates for citywide office need 7,500 signatures, to be collected in 37 days. Ognibene, a Republican, would have needed this many registered Republicans to sign, even though there are only 440,000 registered Republicans in New York city. Ulrich v Mane, 05-4560.
The decision not to expedite the case means that the case will be settled after the primary election is over. This should give the judges a better chance to make a reasoned, calm decision, without the pressure of an election looming.
The New York law at issue, as applied to Republicans, is so strict, that the Republican Party has been left with no nominee for two of the three New York city citywide offices this year.
On September 7, the 2nd circuit refused to expedite Tom Ognibene’s ballot access case in New York. This is the case that challenges the requirement that candidates for citywide office need 7,500 signatures, to be collected in 37 days. Ognibene, a Republican, would have needed this many registered Republicans to sign, even though there are only 440,000 registered Republicans in New York city. Ulrich v Mane, 05-4560.
The decision not to expedite the case means that the case will be settled after the primary election is over. This should give the judges a better chance to make a reasoned, calm decision, without the pressure of an election looming.
The New York law at issue, as applied to Republicans, is so strict, that the Republican Party has been left with no nominee for two of the three New York city citywide offices this year.
Late on Friday, September 9, an Ohio State Court of Appeals refused to remove 4 initiatives from the November 2005 ballot, even though they were placed on the ballot using out-of-state circulators. State ex rel Finan v Blackwell, 05-apd-08-854. The 4 initiatives all relate to election law. One lets anyone vote early; one imposes campaign finance restrictions; one provides for a state board of elections; and one sets up procedures for a nonpartisan body to draw congressional and legislative district boundaries.
The Court did not actually settle the question of whether out-of-state circulators are permitted in Ohio. Instead, the court found procedural flaws in the lawsuit that had been filed to remove the initiatives. Still pending in the US Court of Appeals is Ralph Nader’s challenge to the same restriction. Nader was removed from the Ohio ballot last year because some of his circulators were thought not to live in Ohio.
On August 27, a Washington State Court overturned a fine that had been levied against a Green Party nominee for the state legislature in 2002. Marilou Rickert had been fined $1,000 for saying in her campaign literature that her only opponent, the Democratic incumbent, had voted to close the Mission Creek Youth Camp. Actually her opponent, State Senator Tim Sheldon, had voted not to close the Camp. Washington state law criminalizes “political advertising that contains a false statement of fact about a candidate for public office” if the false statement was made maliciously. The State Court of Appeals held the law to violate the First Amendment. Rickert v State, 32274-9.
