U.S. District Court in North Carolina Upholds 4% Petition Requirement for Independent Candidates for U.S. House
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | August 24, 2010 (Original Context)

On August 24, U.S. District Court Judge Graham C. Mullen, a Bush Sr. appointee, upheld North Carolina’s petition requirement for independent candidates for U.S. House. The law required a petition signed by 4% of the registered voters of the district. No independent candidate for U.S. House has ever appeared on a government-printed ballot in North Carolina, and such ballots have been in existence since 1901. The case is Greene v Bartlett, 5:08-cv-088. Here is the decision.

The judge noted that this year, the Service Employees International Union did succeed in qualifying an independent candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina. However, that candidate, Wendall Fant, will not appear on the ballot, even though enough valid signatures were obtained, because he didn’t want to be a candidate, and he withdrew.

The decision does say, “It is clear that North Carolina’s election laws place severe restrictions upon unaffiliated candidates. It is undisputed under the Storer test that unaffiliated candidates do not regularly qualify for the general election ballot in North Carolina.” But it says that because the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Georgia’s 5% petition requirement in 1971 in Jenness v Fortson, and because the U.S. Supreme Court has continued to mention Jenness in some recent election law decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court must still believe in Jenness.

The plaintiff has not yet decided whether to appeal to the 4th circuit.

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North Carolina Ballot Access Case Likely to Get a Decision by August 20
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | August 12, 2010 (Original Context)

On August 12, U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen heard oral arguments in Greene v Bartlett, the case that challenges the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate for U.S. House. North Carolina has had government-printed ballots since 1901, and no independent for U.S. House has ever qualified. The case is Greene v Bartlett, 5:08-cv-0088. The law requires signatures of 4% of the number of registered voters.

The judge indicated that he expects to issue a ruling by August 20.

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North Carolina Legislature Eliminates Discriminatory Public Funding Law
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | August 5, 2010 (Original Context)

Ballot Access News has just learned that on July 17, 2010, the North Carolina Governor signed SB 1177. It eliminates a law that said a qualified political party could not be listed on the state income tax form unless it has registration of at least 1% of the state total. Parties are listed on state income tax forms in North Carolina and twelve other states, to give taxpayers a chance to donate to that party.

When the Libertarian Party was accidentally listed on the North Carolina tax form in 2009, it received over $39,000. It was not listed on the tax forms that were filed this year because the state did not repeat the error. But it will be listed on future tax forms as long as the party remains ballot-qualified.

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State Supreme Court to Hear Libertarian-Green Ballot Access Case
By Brian Irving | Raleigh Libertarian Examiner | July 27, 2010 (Original Context)

The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Libertarian Party et al vs. The State of North Carolina, et al Thursday, September 9 at 9:30 a.m. This is the party’s challenge to the constitutionality of North Carolina’s ballot access laws.

The lawsuit filed in September 2005 claims North Carolina's ballot access restrictions violate the state constitution, which guarantees that all elections shall be free and that with very few restrictions every voter shall be eligible for election by the people to office.

The North Carolina Green Party joined the case as an intervenor in April 2006.

Read the Full Article at Examiner.com

Another North Carolina Ballot Access Case Gets a Hearing Date
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | July 27, 2010 (Original Context)

The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear the Libertarian/Green Party ballot access case on September 9 at 9:30 a.m. The lawsuit, Libertarian Party v State Board of Elections, challenges many North Carolina election laws that relate to minor parties. The lower courts have tended to treat the case as being solely about the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot. For 2010, North Carolina requires 85,379 signatures. That is the highest number of signatures required by any state except California.

However, the case also challenges the state’s refusal to let a party qualify in just one district or county, if it is unable to qualify statewide. It challenges the state’s refusal to let voters register into unqualified parties. It challenges the law that says even qualified parties cannot appear on the state income tax checkoff form, unless they have registration of at least 1%. That latter provision has probably been responsible for the Libertarian Party losing $35,000 in donations that otherwise would have gone to the party. The Libertarian Party has been ballot-qualified since 2008 but it does not have registration as high as 1%. This is partly because every time a party goes off the ballot, it loses all its registrants. Then, when it gets back on, it must start from zero. On the 2008 tax returns, the state made a mistake and printed the Libertarian Party on the state income tax form anyway, and the party received $39,691.

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North Carolina Ballot Access Hearing Postponed
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | July 26, 2010 (Original Context)

The U.S. District Court in Charlotte that was to have held a hearing in a North Carolina constitutional ballot access case on July 28 has postponed the hearing to an undetermined date in mid-August. The case is Greene v Bartlett. The plaintiff challenges the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina, which is 4% of the number of registered voters. The hearing was postponed because the judge must have a medical operation on July 28. UPDATE: the hearing is now set for August 12 at 2 p.m.

No independent candidate for U.S. House on North Carolina has ever appeared on a government-printed ballot. One did appear to qualify this year, but then the candidate named on the petition refused to run. The petition had been sponsored by the Service Employees International Union.

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Justice Alito Dissent Contains Useful Quote for Ballot Access Cases
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | July 24, 2010 (Original Context)

On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Christian Legal Society v Martinez, 08-1371. This is not an election law case. It was whether Hastings Law School could require recognized student organizations to admit all Hastings students as members. The Law School won the case 5-4.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent, which was also signed by Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Chief Justice John Roberts. It contains this paragraph, “Suppose that a hated student group at a state university has never been able to attract more than 10 members. Suppose that the university administration, for the purpose of preventing that group from using the school grounds for meetings, adopts a new rule under which the use of its facilities is restricted to groups with more than 25 members. Although this rule would be neutral on its face, its adoption for a discriminatory reason would be illegal.”

That scenario is a very good analogy for the ballot access laws of many states.

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Hearing Set for North Carolina Ballot Access Case
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | July 16, 2010 (Original Context)

U.S. District Court Judge Graham C. Mullen will hear oral arguments in Greene v Bartlett on July 28, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. in the federal courthouse in Charlotte, courtroom #3. The address is 401 W. Trade Street. This is the lawsuit, filed in 2008, that challenges the number of signatures needed for a U.S. House independent candidate in North Carolina. The law requires 4% of the number of registered voters.

North Carolina has had government-printed ballots ever since 1901, but no independent candidate for U.S. House has ever appeared on a North Carolina government-printed ballot. This year, the Service Employees International Union backed a petition to place an independent candidate, Wendell Fant, on the ballot for U.S. House in one district, and did succeed in getting enough valid signatures. However, the candidate listed on the petition then said he did not want to run.

Anyone who lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, should consider attending this hearing if possible.

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North Carolina U.S. Senate Poll Shows Libertarian at 10%
By Richard Winger | Ballot Access News | July 7, 2010 (Original Context)

On July 6, Public Policy Polling released a poll of the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina. It shows Republican Richard Burr, the incumbent, at 38%; Elaine Marshall, Democrat, 33%, Michael Beitler, Libertarian, 10%; undecided 20%. See the detailed results here.

The poll shows that Beitler gains support disproportionately from voters age 18-29 (18%), and secondarily from voters age 30-45 (12%). Voters over age 45 only give him 7% support. The poll also shows that Beitler draws 14% support from African-Americans. By party, 7% of Democrats support him; 4% of Republicans support him; and 26% of independent voters support him. Thanks to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for the link. Beitler was in a 3-candidate debate recently.

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