Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso) and Representative Marian Cooksey (R-Edmond) say they will introduce a bill soon to ease ballot access for new and minor parties. Bills in Oklahoma must be introduced by January 18, 2007, even though the legislature doesn’t convene until February.
If you live in a state with bad ballot access laws, now is the time to find a sponsor for a bill to improve them. In a few weeks, in many states, it will be too late.
On January 3, the Coalition for Instant Runoff Voting in Florida turned in 3,225 signatures to put an initiative on the Sarasota city ballot, to use IRV for city elections. Currently, the city (which has non-partisan elections) holds an “old-fashioned” run-off if no one gets 50% the first time, which usually costs about $37,000.
The initiative was used because the Sarasota City Commission refuses to vote for the idea.
On January 2, the North Dakota Secretary of State determined that the Constitution Party petition for ballot status has enough valid signatures. North Dakota now has 4 qualified parties (Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Constitution).
North Dakota has an unfair election law that requires a newly-qualifying party to poll 300 votes for any of its potential nominees, in that party’s own primary. The typical North Dakota primary turnout for all parties combined is only about 2,500 votes per legislative district. No party other than the Democratic or Republican Parties has ever been able to meet this vote hurdle for a candidate for the legislature. Consequently, North Dakota is the only state in the nation that has not had any minor party candidates (with the party label) on the November ballot, during the last 50 years, for state legislature. The Libertarian and Constitution Parties may try to persuade the legislature to repeal the minimum vote test; it serves no purpose and no such test exists in any other state. Similar requirements were held unconstitutional in Minnesota and Washington state during 2004.
UPDATE: the ACLU may have its lobbyist work on the North Dakota election law problem with the 2007 session of the legislature.
Ballot Access News has just learned that a write-in candidate was elected to the Massachusetts legislature on November 7, 2006. The incumbent state representative, Deborah Blumer (D-Framingham) had died on October 13, 2006. Her name was printed on the ballot as a candidate for re-election, and no other person’s name was on the ballot. Massachusetts election law did not permit the ballots to be reprinted, so that left the voters with the name of a deceased person on the ballot, and a write-in space. The Democratic Party organization endorsed Pam Richardson as a write-in candidate, and the Republican Party organization endorsed Nicolas Sanchez as a write-in candidate.
The results were: Richardson 4,259; Sanchez 3,045; other write-ins 1,811; and Blumer, the deceased candidate, 2,306.
The National Popular Vote plan has been re-introduced into the 2007-2008 session of the California legislature. The bill is SB 37, by Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco). The same bill had passed the California legislature in 2006, but had been vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
