Ballot Access News has just learned that Pennsylvania is still distributing voter registration forms that don’t include any parties except the Democratic and Republican Parties. However, the Libertarian Party polled enough votes in November 2008 to be a recognized party under Pennsylvania law, so the state’s forms are obsolete and violating Pennsylvania’s own law.
Oklahoma behaved in much the same way in 1996 and early 1997, in regard to the Reform Party, which was a qualified party in Oklahoma starting in May 1996 and extending through November 1998. Oklahoma also kept using old registration forms that didn’t list the Reform Party as a choice. The Reform Party sued in December 1996 and the state gave in. That case was Reform Party of Oklahoma v Ward, 96-cv-1834-R.
The lapse is worse in Pennsylvania than it had been in Oklahoma. Oklahoma doesn’t give a political party any particular rights just because it attains a certain level of registrants. But Pennsylvania says a party’s nominees may not be on the November ballot automatically unless it has registration membership of 15%, so leaving the Libertarian Party hurts its ability to meet that goal.
7 responses so far ↓
1 NewFederalist // Nov 21, 2009 at 11:42 am
I am shocked… SHOCKED!!
2 Don Lake, A Modest Proposal ........... // Nov 21, 2009 at 11:45 am
Welcome to Amerikkka ……….
3 Michael Seebeck // Nov 21, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Why shocked, New? Colorado has had the same problem for at least a decade, and they’re supposed to list ballot-qualified third parties on their forms but haven’t done so since they were given a loophole to use up the ones they had, so they printed up several million of them to stockpile in advance.
It’s just another way that the major parties exploit government and law to hurt minor parties and effect any change.
4 Darcy G Richardson // Nov 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I think he was being facetious.
5 Gary // Nov 21, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Freedom. I heard about it once. I think freedom was allowed in the recent German elections . . . . . but not in this country.
6 Mik Robertson // Nov 24, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I asked the election bureau to send me 300,000 voter registration forms and the request was declined.
7 Aroundtheblockafewtimes // Nov 25, 2009 at 8:59 am
Sounds like the LPP needs a pro bono attorney and a friend in Harrisburg who is willing to go to bat for a price – like agreeing to not run against someone who is in a close race.
Leave a Comment