Op Ed: Op Ed: U.S. Court Upholds Another Restrictive Ballot Access Law
By Brian Irving | August 27, 2010 | Read the Full Op Ed

A U.S. District Court has upheld the North Carolina election law setting the signature requirements for an independent candidate to get on the ballot for the U.S. House. Judge Graham C. Mullen denied a request for summary judgment by Bryan Greene, who sought to have the statute ruled unconstitutional.

Greene argued that requiring an independent candidate to collect signatures from four percent of the registered voters in the district is unduly restrictive and discriminates against independent candidates because the number of signatures need varies from district to district.

While Mullen observed that North Carolina’s election laws place severe restrictions upon unaffiliated candidates and that they do not regularly qualify for the ballot, he said, “It is well settled law that the State has a legitimate interest in limiting access to the ballot in order to prevent ballot clutter and voter confusion, as well as discourage frivolous candidates.”

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Op Ed: Tea Party Movement Should Support Ballot Access Reform
By Brian Irving | April 30, 2010 | Read the Full Op Ed

Most Tea Party participants believe they have the right to vote for anyone they choose in an election. Most also believe they have the right to run for office.

Unfortunately, they are wrong. A state Superior Court judge has said so. When the Libertarian and Green parties challenged the constitutionality of the state's ballot access laws, the judge denied the claim saying, "there is no fundamental right for a voter to vote for the party of their choice."

North Carolina has most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation. It is easier to get on the ballot in Russia than it is in North Carolina. North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections is the only organization in North Carolina actively fighting to break down these restrictions.

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Kinston Fights for Non-Partisan Elections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 14, 2010 | Contact: Brian Irving, Press Secretary, 919.538.4548 | Read the Full Press Release

GREENSBORO (April 14) -- The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to overturn a referendum approving non-partisan city council elections in Kinston is a clear example of the abuse of Federal government power and a insult to the intelligence of all voters, North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections said today.

“Nearly two-thirds of Kinston voters decided to remove partisan bickering from their city council elections, yet the Justice Department saw fit to support the narrow interests of political parties over the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the people,” said Jordon Greene, NCFPE founder and president.

“This is repugnant to the basic principles of representative government,” he said. “And the reasoning given for the ruling is an insult to voters – both black and white.”

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Op Ed: North Carolina Obviously Thinks Political Competition is Bad for You
By Jordon M. Greene | March 24, 2010 | Read the Full Op Ed

LENOIR (March 24) -- North Carolina’s restrictive ballot access laws have kept unaffiliated candidates for U.S. Congress off the ballot since 1901. Bryan Greene, an independent candidate for District 10 in 2008 is trying to change that. He filed a lawsuit in 2008 asking the courts to declare the restrictions unconstitutional.

In response, the State said Greene has the “initial burden of showing that the ballot access requirements seriously restricts political opportunity” and that he “must demonstrate that a ‘reasonably diligent’ candidate could not gain a place on the ballot under the statutory framework.”

The State also alleges Greene has no standing to challenge the law because the number of signatures he collected compared to the total 16,457 required in 2008. But as Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News and a nationally recognized ballot access expert notes “three times, the U.S. Supreme Court has accepted standing for plaintiffs in ballot access cases who had submitted no signatures whatsoever,” including the historic case of Williams v. Rhodes in 1968.

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Graham Commissioners Want to Count Their Votes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2010 | Contact: Brian Irving, Press Secretary, 919.538.4548 | Read the Full Press Release

LENOIR (March 8) -- The Graham County Commissioners are giving new meaning to the observation of Joseph Stalin “He who votes decides nothing; he who counts the votes decides everything.” The commissioners are locked in a legal dispute with the county's board of elections over who can hire and fire elections board employees.

The dispute began in November when commissioners moved a full-time employee from the BOE to the county tax assessors office. The election board hired two-part time employees as replacements. When the commissioners refused to pay the salary of the second part-timer, the elections board took the matter to court.

“There is nothing more essential to the honesty and integrity of our elections than an independent board of elections,” said Jordon Greene, North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections president. “The actions of the Graham commissioners strike directly at the heart of our electoral process.”

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Op Ed: Without Power There Can Be No Corruption
By Brian Irving | November 9, 2009 | Read the Full Op Ed

Just as predictable as the media's “gotcha” coverage whenever a politician gets caught cheating or stealing is the inevitable call by political reform groups for more laws to prevent such abuse in the future and for “better” ways of financing campaigns. They ignore warning from our nations Founders' who understood that the more corrupt a State the more it legislates.

More laws aren't the answer to corruption because most of our current elected "leaders" bend, twist or simply ignore the law whenever it suits them. Witness all the “I don't recall” and “I can't remember” responses during the recent State Board of Elections hearing, or Governor Perdue's response to the court-ordered release of convicts.

It's pointless – and disingenuous – however to propose that forcing taxpayers to fund political campaigns they don't agree with will promote honesty. Compelling anyone to pay for something they oppose is not just dishonest and corrupt, it is immoral.

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State Senator Jim Jacumin (R-44) Introduces the Electoral Freedom Act of 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2009 | Contact: Jordon M. Greene, President, 828.729.4509 | Read the Full Press Release

Yesterday brought wonderful news to the State of North Carolina and the prospect of expanding free and equal elections in our state. On March 19, 2009 (as also reported in Ballot Access News) North Carolina State Senator Jim Jacumin (R-44 Burke and Caldwell Counties) filed a slightly altered version of the North Carolinians for Free and Proper Election’s “Electoral Freedom Act of 2009” that he will officially introduce into the North Carolina State Senate this coming Monday, March 23, 2009.

Though the bill is not exactly the same as when we presented it to Senator Jacumin it still addresses the concerns of the NCFPE and the citizens of North Carolina like you who value the right to vote. Senate Bill 731, the Electoral Freedom Act of 2009, in its current form will strike down the present requirement for new political parties in North Carolina to obtain signatures equal to 2% of the number of votes cast in the last election for Governor (i.e. 85,379 signatures required for new political parties to gain access to the 2010 or 2012 election ballot).

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2008 Election News from the NCFPE President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2008 | Contact: Jordon M. Greene, President, 828.729.4509 | Read the Full Press Release

The 2008 election of November fourth has brought North Carolina several good turnouts. First, Republican State Senator Jim Jacumin, who has expressed his desire to push for free and fair elections and has promised to introduce legislation in the NC General Assembly to do such, won his re-election bid with just under 58% of the vote. The NCFPE will be working with Senator Jacumin as closely as possible to ensure a bill to alleviate the ballot problem is introduced, yet, we assure you that we cannot do this alone. We will need the support and help of the citizen's of North Carolina to make sure our message is heard and acted upon in the NC General Assembly. So be sure to keep checking back at the NCFPE website for updates on the future bill in the NC General Assembly.

Second, the North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections would like to applaud all of the Libertarian candidates who ran for election this year, and we especially applaud Mike Munger, Libertarian candidate for Governor, who was able to garner 2.87% of the vote (120,890 votes) for Governor and in the mean time guarunteed the Libertarian Party of North Carolina ballot access for 2010 and 2012.

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