Category Archives: ballot access

Muller on Ballot Access

May 21, 2023, 10:02 amballot accessDerek Muller

Derek T. Muller, Ballot Access (forthcoming, Oxford Handbook of American Election Law): Voters use ballots to choose their preferred candidates or to express support or opposition to ballot initiatives and referenda. There are many and diverse rules for how these… Continue reading

“Former candidates say New Jersey’s ‘slogan statutes’ violate the First Amendment”

May 20, 2023, 2:09 pmballot accessDerek Muller

“Cert petition of the week” highlighted at SCOTUSblog, summarizing the case Mazo v. Way.

Elected officials aren’t always the biggest fans of ballot measures

May 20, 2023, 2:09 pmballot access, voter initiativesDerek Muller

Some recent actions of legislatures and other elected officials stepping into the thick of how ballot measures are proposed and adopted…. In the Wall Street Journal, “State Lawmakers Take Aim at Voter-Led Ballot Measures,” which begins, “Lawmakers in Republican-led… Continue reading

“Judge Strikes Down Law Blocking Those Convicted of Public Corruption From Running for Office”

May 13, 2023, 2:58 pmballot accesspublic corruptionTabatha Abu El-Haj

New York Law Journal: A Manhattan judge has struck down as unconstitutional a New York City law that bars those with convictions for public corruption crimes from running for public office.

No Labels Sent Caution by Maine Secretary of State

May 12, 2023, 3:43 pmballot accessTabatha Abu El-Haj

Press Herald reports that the national organization of No Labels has been sent a cease and desist letter from the Secretary of State of Maine for misleading voters in their efforts to gain ballot access. “’Over the past few months,… Continue reading

Constitutionality of N.Y’s Restrictions on Write-Ins Upheld

May 9, 2023, 3:24 pmballot access, primariesTabatha Abu El-Haj

A 2021 amendment to N.Y.’s Election Law restricts the permissible universe of write-in candidates in a party primary to members of the party. Essentially applying Anderson-Burdick, the state appellate court upheld the constitutionality of the amendment. “Political parties have protected… Continue reading

“A Critical and Historical Analysis of Ohio’s Post-Millennium Regression to Major-Party Monopoly”

May 5, 2023, 9:46 amballot access, political equality, political parties, third partiesJustin Levitt

New in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, from Capital’s Mark Brown: a review of recent ballot access battles in Ohio. I suspect there’s even more to add to the “major-party monopoly” argument if you add the legislature’s all-out gerrymandering… Continue reading

Paul Clement leads cert petition in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State on ballot speech issue

April 26, 2023, 11:50 amballot access, First Amendment theory, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

Late last year here at ELB, I highlighted the Third Circuit’s decision in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State. (Disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in that case.) Check out that post for more on the background. Paul… Continue reading

Ballot access in Montana

April 5, 2023, 7:51 amballot access, third partiesJustin Levitt

A top-two primary, but only for U.S. Senate, and only for 2024. That’s in one bill that Montana legislators advanced on Monday. A second Montana bill advancing Monday would raise thresholds for parties to qualify for the ballot, and… Continue reading

“Arkansas Bill Easing Ballot Access for Newly-Qualifying Parties Passes Legislature”

April 3, 2023, 10:49 amballot access, political parties, third partiesJustin Levitt

Hat tip to Richard Winger, of course, on the news. I’d be intrigued to see if there’s any correlation between the major-party vote margin and the permissiveness of a state’s minor-party ballot access structure.

“No Labels group raises alarms with third-party presidential preparations”

April 2, 2023, 11:52 amballot access, third partiesRick Hasen

WaPo: Former senator Joe Lieberman knows better than most the impact third-party bids can have on presidential elections. His 2000 Democratic campaign for vice president fell just 537 Florida votes short of victory, in a state where Ralph Nader, the… Continue reading

“Arizona Democrats to sue No Labels to block third-party challenge”

March 30, 2023, 6:41 amballot accessRick Hasen

WaPo: The Arizona Democratic Party will file a lawsuit Thursday against the state’s top election administrator and No Labels, seeking to reverse the moderate group’s recognition as a political party for the 2024 elections, according to Democratic officials. The lawsuit,… Continue reading

“‘If You Ain’t First, You’re Last'” How State ‘Sore-Loser’ Laws Make It Impossible For Trump To Run A Successful Third-Party Campaign If He Loses The Republican Primary”

March 6, 2023, 7:55 amballot accessRick Hasen

Jason Torchinsky, Steve Roberts, Dennis Polio, and Andrew Pardue write in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy: In recent months, Donald Trump and his supporters have stoked rumors that he may run asa third-party candidate for president in… Continue reading

“New York moves to ban ‘independence’ from party ballot lines to reduce confusion”

December 16, 2022, 7:34 amballot accessRick Hasen

State of Politics: At the height of its power, the Independence Party in New York had registered more than 400,000 voters in the state. For years, political observers, elected officials and candidates suspected many of those voters were duped… Continue reading