On November 1, the Ohio Secretary of State signed a consent order, settling the lawsuit The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless v Blackwell, sou. dist., C2-06-896. Absentee ballots received by mail that contain the voter’s date of birth, address and signature will be counted. At the polls, a wide range of ID will be accepted, not just government photo-ID. The order does not apply to elections that occur in 2007 and future years.
On November 1, the Ohio Secretary of State signed a consent order, settling the lawsuit The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless v Blackwell, sou. dist., C2-06-896. Absentee ballots received by mail that contain the voter’s date of birth, address and signature will be counted. At the polls, a wide range of ID will be accepted, not just government photo-ID. The order does not apply to elections that occur in 2007 and future years.
On October 30, an independent candidate for the Arizona legislature, George Seaman, sued over that state’s policy of giving a free list of registered voters to the qualified parties, but no one else. The case is Seaman v Yavapai County, cv-2006-1211, Prescott.
In 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court settled this issue favorably. If government officials give the list of registered voters to the qualified parties, they must also give it to candidates of non-qualified parties and independent candidates. Arizona officials have known about this precedent for many years, but they have never changed their law. The precedent was Socialist Workers Party v New York State Bd. of Elections, 400 U.S. 806 (1970). The US Supreme Court action was a summary affirmance of a 3-judge U.S. District Court decision.
Rogers, Arkansas, is in the northwestern part of the state. The high school, which has 1,500 students, recently held a Mock Election. The gubernatorial results: Governor: Democrat Mike Beebe 39.5%, Republican Asa Hutchinson 36.8%, Green Jim Lendall 11.1%, independent Rod Bryan 7.5%.
Rogers is in Benton County, where 68.4% of the voters voted for President Bush in 2004.
Ballot access activists in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are doing an excellent job, publicizing the issue and working for legislative change in 2007. The Oklahoma Ballot Group, and the Oklahoma Coalition of Independents, have been asking Democratic and Republican state legislators whether they will support improving the ballot access laws next year. They have identified Senator Randy Brogdon (R), Senator Andrew Rice (D), and these House members: Jason Murphy (R), Ryan McMullen (D), Ron Peterson (R), Jennifer Seal (D), and Rae Weese (D).
In Pennsylvania, a pro-ballot access reform rally was held at the State Capitol on October 31. The rally attracted press attention, which caused a reporter to ask Governor Ed Rendell about his ideas on ballot access reform. The Governor, who is likely to be re-elected next week, said he has no plans to ask the legislature to improve the law. He also said that the law isn’t impossible since “some people made the ballot.” He seems not to realize that no statewide minor party or independent candidates succeeded in Pennsylvania this year, and that Pennsylvania is one of only 4 states with a ballot monopoly for the two major parties in all statewide races.
Constitutional lawsuits attacking the laws of both states are pending in federal court in Pennsylvania, and state court in Oklahoma.
