AP reports. … Continue reading
Category Archives: ballot access
Details at AZ Law. … Continue reading
You can find the court’s order at this link. The court along the way was pretty dismissive of the rights of third parties. The Eleventh Circuit rejected a similar challenge to Florida law on standing grounds. … Continue reading
BAN reports. … Continue reading
Opinion here (via BAN). … Continue reading
The Detroit News reports. … Continue reading
Draft here (paper is forthcoming in the University of Chicago Law Review Online). Abstract: Putting aside the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee, the case over extending the date for receipt of absentee ballots … Continue reading
BAN reports. … Continue reading
You can find the per curiam opinion of the three-judge panel here. This opinion is troubling, and fits into a larger pattern of the court not protecting direct democracy during the pandemic. Indeed, I have this forthcoming piece in the … Continue reading
Seawright v. Board of Elections. … Continue reading
Detroit News: At least two judicial candidates who felt they were destined to be left off Michigan ballots this August for not meeting state requirements for collecting petition signatures got new life Wednesday, thanks to a U.S. District Court order.In … Continue reading
Opinion here. … Continue reading
NYT: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the best-known progressive politicians in the country, and her endorsement is sought by candidates running for president. Her firebrand style of politics has helped her raise millions of dollars and accumulate 6.9 million followers on … Continue reading
Weigel: It’s unclear whether a bid by Amash would have a greater effect on Biden or on Trump. In 2019, a Detroit News poll found Biden leading Trump in Michigan, a state that has grown more uncertain for the president, by 12 … Continue reading
BAN: On April 21, a Colorado state trial court put Michelle Ferrigno Warren on the June 30 Democratic primary ballot for U.S. Senate, even though she needed 10,500 valid signatures and she only had 5,383 valid signatures….Here is the 28-page decision in … Continue reading
Bill Scher for Politico Magazine: For America’s third parties, this is nothing less than an existential crisis. Without ballot access, national pollsters won’t feel obligated to include Green and Libertarian candidates in their surveys; voters will be less aware of … Continue reading
Law 360: Political candidates seeking to get on to the Sept. 1 primary ballot in Massachusetts will only need to collect half the number of signatures usually required and can now use some electronic means to gather names, according to … Continue reading
WaPo: The Libertarian Party is planning to nominate a candidate for president on May 25 at its convention in Austin, but no well-known figures have entered the race. Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, who joined the party last year, … Continue reading
Virginia Mercury reports. … Continue reading
One issue that most people (including me) have not had a chance to delve into during this virus crisis is how it affects petitioning—both the ability of candidates and parties to get on the ballot as well as the qualification … Continue reading
Buffalo News: A State Supreme Court justice has voided new rules adopted by a special commission paving the way for public financing of elections in New York State while making it harder for minor parties to qualify for the ballot.Justice Ralph … Continue reading
Courthouse News: A change to the deadline for independent political candidates to register for elections signed is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.Kentucky House Bill 114, signed into law by former Governor Matt Bevin in March 2019, changed the deadline for state … Continue reading
The Seattle Times reviews who’s on and who’s off the Washington State primary ballot. And while the story focuses on the candidates on the ballot who may not still be actively contending by the time March 10 rolls around, the … Continue reading
Ballot access is not for the faint of heart. … Continue reading
Marc Elias in WaPo about his lawsuits on the ballot-order statutes giving unilateral pole position to candidates of one party. … Continue reading
Detroit News: A federal district judge on Sunday overturned state law governing independent candidates’ access to the ballot and lowered the signature threshold for qualification in 2020. Michigan Eastern District Judge Victoria Roberts ruled that the state’s ballot access requirements were “severely … Continue reading
Tucson.com: The Arizona Libertarian Party is making a last-ditch effort to quash a state statute that it says was designed to keep its candidates off the ballot.In filings with the U.S. Supreme Court, attorney Oliver Hall from the Center for … Continue reading
BAN reports. … Continue reading
Star Tribune: Two national campaign committees supporting congressional Democrats have filed a federal lawsuit challenging ballot order rules that will list DFL candidates in Minnesota beneath their major-party rivals in the 2020 general election.The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court … Continue reading
Newsday: The panel is charged with developing a voluntary system of using state funds to help pay for political campaigns, but Cuomo and other legislative leaders also tasked the commission with looking at the merits of fusion voting. The system provides … Continue reading
27east.com: Working Families Party leadership is telling party members that the two Southampton Town Board candidates who will appear on its line on the November 5 ballot do not represent the party’s values — and they should vote for someone … Continue reading
The following is a guest post from Robert William Bennett of Northwestern Law: The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held unconstitutional a Colorado law that forbade the state’s presidential electors from voting “faithlessly.” Under … Continue reading
LAT: An effort to limit voter confusion in California by banning the use of the word “independent” in a political party’s name was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, a rejection of a proposal that would have forced one of the state’s lesser-known … Continue reading
Politico: California’s new law requiring candidates’ tax returns may be aimed at Donald Trump, but its most consequential effects would likely be felt downballot if it survives a legal challenge.For Republicans who already face a steep climb to blunt Democratic … Continue reading
New Vik Amar column. … Continue reading
At the Lectern reports. … Continue reading
CNN reports. … Continue reading
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill requiring Presidential candidates (as well as gubernatorial candidates) to supply their tax returns if they want appear on the primary ballot. There is no question the Trump campaign or their allies, and … Continue reading
The decision is here. (h/t, as in everything ballot access, to Richard Winger.) … Continue reading
An interesting commentary on the debate over fusion voting in New York. … Continue reading
Trial has started up in Florida over the law automatically placing candidates of the governor’s party in the first position of the ballot. I’ve been watching this case pretty closely; it’s a really interesting test of the prevailing constitutional doctrine … Continue reading
Arizona law invalidates any signatures collected for a citizens’ initiative, referedum, or recall by a particular circulator, if the circulator is paid or from out of state, and if that circulator is subpoenaed in a challenge and can’t appear in … Continue reading
When partisan officials control the process for certifying summaries and titles for initiatives and referenda heading onto the ballot, there will be controversy along the way. This story is about alleged foot-dragging on beginning the petitioning process to validate a … Continue reading
From the Houston Chronicle. … Continue reading
BAN: On July 3, U.S. District Court Judge Kristin G. Baker enjoined the new Arkansas petition requirement for newly-qualifying parties. Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Thurston, e.d., 4:19cv-214. Here is the 63-page order.Earlier this year, the Arkansas legislature had increased the … Continue reading
Stateline reports. … Continue reading
Opinion by Judge Barrett. … Continue reading
Read Arizona Libertarian Party v. Hobbs. … Continue reading
City & State reports. … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading