North Carolina ballot access update

North Carolina House Bill 32 and Senate Bill 255, also known as the Electoral Freedom Act, passed the Senate Rules Committee on July 26. The bill has already passed the House, and may be considered an upcoming special session on September 12. North Carolina residents are encouraged to contact your State Senator and express your support for SB255.

Also, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News reports that the Fourth Circuit court will hear oral argument in Greene v Bartlett on September 22, which challenges the number of signatures required to get an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. House, which is 4% of the number of registered voters as of early in the election year. The requirement is so strict, it has never been used by a candidate for U.S. House. North Carolina has had government-printed ballots since 1901 and never has any independent candidate for U.S. House appeared on a government-printed ballot.

A U.S. District Court had upheld the requirement, mentioning that in 2010, it appears that an independent candidate for U.S. House did collect enough signatures to be on the ballot, but then the candidate (who had not initiated the petition drive) refused to run. The SEIU had sponsored that petition drive. No evidence about that petition drive was ever presented as evidence in the case. It is possible the drive cost as much as $100,000, certainly a very high and discriminatory entry barrier for average citizens intending to run for Congress.

California Top Two update

On July 14, U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright set the date of August 22 for oral argument in Chamness v Bowen, the case that challenges the part of California’s top-two system that lets some candidates use their party label on the ballot but not other candidates. According to the order, although the judge is [...]

Fourth circuit issues first favorable minor party or independent candidate ruling in 21 years

On July 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, issued a 14-page ruling that virtually guarantees that the Virginia residency requirement for circulators will be held unconstitutional. The decision is Lux v Judd, 10-1997. It overrules two U.S. District Court decisions issued last year, the one in this case, and one in a case [...]

Open letter from Ralph Nader to Chief Justice Ronald Castille

Download a PDF version here Ralph Nader P.O. Box 19312 Washington, D.C. 20036 June 21, 2011 Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille Pennsylvania Supreme Court 1818 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Dear Chief Justice Castille, This open letter is prompted by your recent opinion in In Re Farnese, which repeats the demonstrable falsehood that the Nader-Camejo [...]

Pennsylvania candidate for Superior Court Justice accused of bias

A Pennsylvania candidate for Superior Court Judge, Victor Stabile, is facing strong criticism from Pennsylvania third party activists. As former Republican Chair for Cumberland County, Stabile had previously praised GOP actions to remove Green, Libertarian and Tea Party candidates from the ballot. He said: “I am very pleased to report to you that challenges to [...]

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