Although a New Mexico ballot access decision was expected on Monday, Sep. 18, it didn’t come out. It had been expected because the state had said it would start printing overseas absentee ballots on Sep. 18. The decision will determine if the Libertarian Party is on this year’s ballot.
On September 18, the 7th circuit ruled 3-0 that Illinois petition requirements for independent candidates for the legislature are too severe, and are unconstitutional. They required a petition signed by 10% of the last vote cast, due in December of the year before the election. Lee v Illinois State Bd. of Elections. The decision is 17 pages long.
Idaho election law says a party may remain on the ballot indefinitely as long as it continues to run at least 3 candidates (the package of president, vice-president and electors counts as one). This year, the United Party of Idaho (a centrist party, somewhat like the Reform Party) nominated 3 candidates. However, one of them moved out of his legislative district, and was removed from the November ballot. Therefore, the party only has 2 candidates, not 3.
The law also permits a party to remain on the ballot if it polled for any candidate for federal or state office, a number of votes equal to 3% of the vote cast for governor or president (whichever is on the ballot that year). Idaho has two U.S. House districts. The party is not running any candidates for statewide office, but it has an energetic candidate, Andy Hedden-Nicely, running for U.S. House. Therefore, he needs approximately 6% of the vote in his race, to keep his party qualified for 2008 (since the district includes approximately half of the state, it isn’t enough for him to poll 3%; he needs a vote equal to 3% of the vote cast for Governor in the entire state, yet only half the state can vote for Hedden-Nicely).
On September 14, a lower state court struck down Missouri’s new law, which requires voters to show government-issued photo ID before voting at the polls. Jackson Co. v State of Missouri, Cole Co. Dist. Ct. 06AC-CC587.
The Vermont Libertarian Party has 7 candidates for the State House of Representatives this November. Five of them also tried to win major party nominations at the September 12 primary. Four of them managed to do so: Bob Wolffe, David Atkinson, Hardy Macia, and Benjamin Todd. They will be listed on the November ballot as “Libertarian, Republican.” The Libertarian who tried to win a Democratic nomination, Kevin Volz, did not succeed.
