Alabama, Oklahoma newspapers editorialize for ballot access reform

From Ballot Access News:

Montgomery, Alabama Daily Newspaper Again Endorses Ballot Access Reform

The Montgomery Advertiser, the daily newspaper for Montgomery, Alabama, has this op-ed, asking the legislature to ease the ballot access laws for newly-qualifying parties and independent candidates.

Daily Oklahoman Again Editorializes in Favor of Easing Ballot Access:

This December 17 Daily Oklahoman editorial again recommends that the Oklahoma legislature improve ballot access for newly-qualifying parties and independent presidential candidates. The editorial also recommends that the two major parties open their primaries to independent voters. The editorial disagrees with certain other election law reforms, such as ending run-off primaries.

Oklahoma has not permitted anyone to vote for President who was not a major party nominee, for each of the last three presidential elections. One must go all the way back to the period 1952-1964 to find any other state with a similar record. That other state was Ohio, which didn’t have anyone but Democrats and Republicans on the ballot for President for four elections in a row and which also banned write-ins. The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Ohio’s ballot access laws in 1968 in Williams v Rhodes.

In IPR comments, Ballot Access News editor Richard Winger wrote:

Alabama, in last month’s election, had a U.S. Senate candidate with only one candidate on the ballot. The Democrats didn’t run anyone for U.S. Senate, and no minor party or independent candidate could get on the ballot. Even for Alabama, the specter of a one-candidate election for such an important office looks pretty bad. Also in 2014 Alabama was one of only five states with a Dem-Rep ballot monopoly for all the statewide offices. These are facts that weren’t available in previous sessions. Also it is worth noting that Alabama voter turnout in 2014 was shockingly low.

http://www.electproject.org/2014g is the link for 2014 turnout data. Alabama’s turnout was 32.6% of the eligible electorate.

….

The Missouri legislature in 1989 was incredibly hostile to ballot access reform. Our bill was presented in committee in the Senate. After the witnesses in favor spoke, Senator Webster said, “Only fruits and nuts are interested in this.” And no one else said one word. No member of the committee moved the bill. But, we kept re-introducing it, and finally in 1993 it was signed into law. The LP hasn’t had to petition in Missouri ever since. The Constitution Party is also safely on the ballot there.

And:

26 states have made it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified in the last 30 years: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. We made all this progress not by lawsuits, but by asking state legislators to do this. We are insane, crazy, nuts, if we don’t continue doing this. And now is the time when legislators are deciding which bills to introduce. Many states have strict deadlines for introducing bills.

Disclaimer: I (kind of) live in Alabama, and have been on the state exec comm of the LP here on and off since 1998. In 2012-2014 I was LNC alternate for a region that included both Alabama and Oklahoma. As a petitioner, I have worked on ballot access in Alabama many times, and in Oklahoma in 2000. I’m currently state director of Alabama for Our America Initiative and co-deputy director of the OAI Southern Region, which includes both Alabama and Oklahoma. One of the projects Alabama for OAI is working on is easing ballot access reform:

Our America Initiative supports ABLE (Alabama for Ballot Access Law Equality), a coalition of groups and individuals seeking an end to unfair signature requirements for candidates running outside the establishment parties. This year Alabama was one of only four states in which voters could choose only between Democrats and Republicans for statewide office. Third party presidential candidates could appear on the ballot only as “independents”, forbidden from choosing their preferred party label such as Green or Libertarian. Failure to earn 20% of the vote requires the gathering for the next election of signatures equal to 3% of the vote for Governor – that’s around 40,000 valid signatures statewide, around 6,000 valid signatures for a Congressional race, and around 400 valid signatures for a State House district. This signature threshold is the second highest in the country for statewide office. The good news is over half the states have eased ballot access over the past few decades. Nearby states including Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida have some of the easiest ballot access laws in the country. With 60% of voters wanting a third party, it’s clear why Republicans and Democrats are facing opposition to maintaining their barriers against election competition. Unfortunately, with a lawsuit recently dismissed alleging how burdensome Alabama’s signature requirements are, we urge Alabamans to email their senator and representative to pass Senator Ward’s pending bill to halve the signature requirements to 1.5% of the gubernatorial vote. And we hope everyone donates to Our America Initiative’s national lawsuit to open the debates to all viable candidates.

See also:

Alabama Ballot Access Bill Will Be Introduced Again

Eleventh Circuit Refuses to Invalidate Alabama’s March Petition Deadline for Newly-Qualifying Parties

Secretaries of State of Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi Favor Moving Their Presidential Primaries to an Earlier Date

[BenSwann.com] Double Standard in Alabama: Both Major Parties Miss Ballot Deadlines But Will Be on Ballot Anyway

Oklahoma Policy Institute Publishes Research Paper on Oklahoma’s Need to Revise Election Laws