Ballot access is not for the faint of heart. … Continue reading
Category Archives: ballot access
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
NYT reports on opposition to the N.Y. Democratic Party’s resolution to eliminate fusion voting. … Continue reading
BAN: On December 3, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Soltysik v Padilla, 16-55758. This is the case in which Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik, a registered Socialist, challenged the California law that forces him to appear on the ballot with … Continue reading
NYT: Representative Chris Collins, the New York Republican indicted on insider trading charges last month, reversed course on Monday and planned to announce he would seek another term, according to two Republicans familiar with his plans. Mr. Collins opted to … Continue reading
Opinion: And although the Supreme Court upheld a five-percent signature requirement in Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S. 431, 438 (1971), that signature requirement was analyzed using a less stringent framework than that required by Anderson and Burdick. See Anderson, 460 U.S. … Continue reading
New York Law Journal: The New York Court of Appeals has kicked a candidate for member of the New York State Democratic Committee off the September primary ballot for failing to explicitly state she is a woman. Penny Mintz, who … Continue reading
End of the line, unless Blankenship petitions the U.S. Supreme Court. … Continue reading
BAN: On August 22, U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan, a Bush Jr. appointee, issued a 17-page order in Poindexter v Strach, e.d., 5:18cv-366. The order puts three Constitution Party nominees on the ballot, for legislature and county office. The State Board … Continue reading
Jerry Goldfeder & Myrna Perez: Crowley has taken a different tack. Although he remains on the Working Families line, he immediately endorsed Ocasio-Cortez for the congressional seat. This is not unlike what Andrew Cuomo did in 2002. Running for governor … Continue reading
News and Observer: A judge threw out a new state law Monday, ruling that it violated the constitutional rights of at least two politicians whose 2018 campaigns the law had targeted. Chris Anglin, a Republican candidate for a seat on the … Continue reading
News & Observer: The North Carolina Supreme Court candidate who is suing the state government and legislative leaders won a partial victory in court Monday. Chris Anglin is a registered Republican, and he is running against a Democrat and another … Continue reading
Progressive Pulse: The Constitution Party of North Carolina is following through on its threat to sue the state over ballot access restrictions. The Party and three of its members — James Poindexter of Surry County, Jerry Jones of Greene County … Continue reading
Here is the three-page letter (via Political Wire). If Blankenship sues, the legal questions could get very interesting, especially given the recent change in the law. … Continue reading
West Virginia Public Radio reports. … Continue reading
ABC News: In a statement posted on Facebook, Blankenship conceded that he does not expect the filing to be certified due to West Virginia’s “sore loser” law that prohibits candidates that lost in a primary to run in the general election, but that … Continue reading
Politico: West Virginia coal baron and former prisoner Don Blankenship announced on Monday that he plans to launch a long-shot third-party Senate bid after finishing a distant third in this month’s Republican primary. Blankenship said he would run in the … Continue reading
BAN: On May 1, U.S. District Court Judge Philip Brimmer issued a 25-page order in Goodall v Williams, 1:18cv-980. The order enjoins the Secretary of State of Colorado from enforcing the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators for candidate petitions. It also puts … Continue reading
Steve Klepper: The Maryland high court is about to hear, on emergency briefing, the appeal in Lamone v. Lewin. The administrator of the State Board of Elections is challenging the April 26 injunction requiring that former state senator Nathaniel Oaks’ name … Continue reading
Daily Beast: The former Green Party candidate in a congressional race has been exposed as a Republican plant with ties to the GOP congressman he supposedly sought to challenge Michael Zak petitioned to run under the Green Party ticket in … Continue reading
AP: A man who registered as a Green Party candidate for Montana’s U.S. Senate race was on the state Republican Party’s payroll and heads a newly formed anti-tax group, according to a review of election documents. Timothy Adams filed as … Continue reading
Matt Ford for TNR. … Continue reading
Richard Winger: The opinion says that the March 27 petition deadline is too early, especially given winter weather in South Dakota. It also says the 2.5% (of the last gubernatorial vote) is also too high, given the historical record of … Continue reading
Potentially big news in Texas: Dallas County Republicans have filed a lawsuit to have 128 Democrats kicked off the March 6 primary ballot. The lawsuit, filed in Dallas County late Friday, contends that Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Carol Donovan didn’t … Continue reading
BAN reports. … Continue reading