Category Archives: ballot access

Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and January 6, 2025: the need for legislation now

October 14, 2021, 2:42 pmballot access, election subversion risk, electoral collegeNed Foley

All the current talk of Donald Trump running again in 2024 assumes that he’s eligible to serve as president if reelected. He’s not, or at least there’s a strong argument that he isn’t. In fairness to America’s voters, this argument ought… Continue reading

“Florida GOP official: Third-party candidates help Republicans win ‘many’ elections”

September 8, 2021, 8:05 pmballot access, chicanery, third partiesRick Hasen

Washington Examiner: Internal jostling for leadership of Florida’s Republican Party has shaken loose a revelation bolstering allegations the GOP regularly runs third-party candidates funded by “dark money” shadow groups to win elections.In an email sent Tuesday to all Florida… Continue reading

Buffalo: “Board of Elections to mull appeal of rulings that put Byron Brown on the ballot”

September 5, 2021, 8:57 pmballot accessRick Hasen

Buffalo News The Erie County Board of Elections will decide Tuesday whether to appeal one or both decisions handed down Friday that allow Mayor Byron W. Brown to appear on the ballot in November on an independent line.Jeremy J. Zellner,… Continue reading

Qualifications for candidates running in California’s gubernatorial recall

August 17, 2021, 7:23 amballot accessDerek Muller

To build off Ned‘s post, and setting aside the major laches problem to this lawsuit, Vik Amar and Evan Caminker at Justia have a pretty thorough defense of California’s process, a process that disqualifies a recalled governor from seeking… Continue reading

“Sex, Suffrage, and State Constitutional Law: Women’s Legal Right to Hold Public Office”

August 7, 2021, 2:50 pmballot access, campaignsDerek Muller

New draft from Elizabeth D. Katz on SSRN, forthcoming in the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism. Abstract: On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first woman Vice President. This… Continue reading

“Libertarian vs. Liberation creates third-party conundrum on Virginia ballots”

August 5, 2021, 5:03 amballot accessDerek Muller

Virginia Mercury: Most Virginia voters go for candidates with a “D” or “R” next to their name, but who should have dibs on the “L?”This year, election officials preparing November’s ballots were faced with the dilemma of how to… Continue reading

“Ex-Gov. Blagojevich files federal lawsuit challenging state law precluding him from running again”

August 4, 2021, 6:40 amballot accessDerek Muller

Chicago Tribune: The last time convicted ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in federal court in Chicago, he watched sullenly via a video link from prison as a judge resentenced him to 14 years in prison for an array of corruption… Continue reading

Court concludes California candidate tax disclosure law applies only to gubernatorial primaries, not recalls

July 21, 2021, 5:53 pmballot access, recall elections, tax law and election lawDerek Muller

California recently enacted a law to compel presidential candidates and gubernatorial candidates to disclose their tax returns as a condition for appearing on the primary ballot. The presidential rule was targeted at Donald Trump; the gubernatorial rule added at the… Continue reading

Tournament Elections with Round-Robin Primaries

July 20, 2021, 9:04 amalternative voting systems, ballot access, political polarization, primaries, theory, votingranked choice votingNed Foley

I’ve posted a draft of this paper on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: Round-robin voting uses ranked-choice ballots but calculates which candidates are most preferred by a majority of voters differently from instant-runoff voting. Like a round-robin sports competition, round-robin… Continue reading

“New York GOP groups sue over Working Families petitions”

April 12, 2021, 6:54 amballot accessRick Hasen

Times-Union: County Republican organizations around the state have filed lawsuits trying to remove Democrats from the state Working Families Party line ahead of the June primaries.The move comes as local Republicans in at least three counties have also tried to… Continue reading

“Judge rules against Georgia’s limits on third-party House candidates”

March 30, 2021, 9:05 amballot accessRick Hasen

AJC: Georgia’s steep requirements for Libertarian and other third-party candidates to run for Congress are “overbroad,” shutting them out of the political process, a federal judge ruled Monday. BAN: On March 29, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May,… Continue reading

Sixth Circuit, on 2-1 Vote, Strikes Down Michigan Rules for Independent Candidates to Qualify to Appear on the Statewide Ballot as Too Burdensome

March 29, 2021, 8:14 amballot accessRick Hasen

Opinion by Judge Moore with a dissent by Judge Griffin.

Must-Read Miami Herald: “Disgraced Republican lawmaker planted no-party candidate in key Senate race, sources say”

December 3, 2020, 2:21 pmballot access, campaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Come for the fake candidate with the same last name as the Democrat; stay for the use of sham LLCs and super pacs to obscure the identity of those behind the dirty trick. It would not surprises me if this… Continue reading

Must-Read Story Out of Florida: “Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money”

November 12, 2020, 7:40 amballot access, chicaneryRick Hasen

Local10 News: Why would candidates for Florida Senate seats do no campaigning, no fundraising, have no issue platforms, nor make any effort to get votes?Local 10 News has found evidence to suggest three such candidates in three Florida Senate district… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law