Posted to IPR by Paulie
ballot-access.org/2009/01/07/deadlines-for-introducing-bills-are-rapidly-approaching/:

Many state legislatures have rigid deadlines for introducing bills. Those deadlines were in December 2008 in Indiana, Iowa, and Oklahoma. A previous post had said that the Indiana deadline was in mid-January, but actually it was on December 15. Therefore, it is already too late to introduce a ballot access improvement [...]

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In a series of posts at Ballot Access News today, Richard Winger writes:
In 2004, Ralph Nader was on the ballot in jurisdictions containing 50.8% of the national presidential vote cast that year. In those jurisdictions, he polled .67% of the total presidential vote cast in those places.
In 2008, Nader was on the ballot in [...]

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Ballot Access News reports:
The judge in the case called Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield said on December 11 that the decision will be out in late March or early April. This is the case over discriminatory aspects of the Connecticut public funding law.

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One of the big hurdles alternative parties and independent candidates face in trying to get on the ballot are state rules about where and when ballot access petitions can be circulated. A couple of court cases are currently addressing these issues, discussed at Ballot Access News. The first story is about a petitioners rights victory [...]

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North Carolina and West Virginia are two of the toughest states for smaller parties trying to get a place on the ballot. Ballot Access News reports:
The lawsuit Libertarian Party of North Carolina v State Board of Elections is now docketed in the State Court of Appeals in Raleigh. It is case number [...]

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Ballot Access News blog has a series of posts about write-in votes as they are coming in. Here is what they have reported so far:

Virginia has tallied these write-ins for president: Alan Keyes 38, Brian Moore 13.
Michigan has tallied the votes for the two declared write-in presidential candidates. Alan Keyes received 129, and Brian [...]

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Article posted by John Deeth

Only two percent of Iowa voters supported third party presidential candidates this year, but Iowa’s third party activists are more analytical than disappointed when they examine their levels of support.
“My suspicion is that there is a kind of ‘automatic’ knee-jerk third party vote which is almost always guaranteed,” said Holly Hart [...]

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A press release from the Constitution Party of Georgia highlights numerous instances of “lost” write-in votes in several of that state’s counties:
The Constitution Party of Georgia presented documentation today that showed the official 2008 Georgia election results failed to include more than 10% of the votes cast for Constitution Party Presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin. As [...]

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Posted at Ballot Access News

In approximately half the states, the number of signatures required for a new party, or an independent candidate, depends on how many voters voted in the last election, or on how many people were registered to vote in the last election. In some of the states with the most restrictive requirements, [...]

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Ballot Access News reports on efforts underway in Texas and Pennsylvania not to make ballot access more reasonable.
In Pennsylvania, State House member Eddie Pashinski (D-Wilkes-Barre) has agreed to introduce the Pennsylvania ballot access reform bill in next year’s legislative session. The bill already has a Senate sponsor, Mike Folmer, a Republican. The bill is [...]

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In our blog comments, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News writes:
For Libertarians, we especially need bills (in states not mentioned above) in Alabama (definition of party, fewer signatures), Alaska (definition of party), Illinois (fewer signatures), Massachusetts (primary ballot access), New Hampshire (definition of party, substitution, ability to register into unqualified parties), New Mexico (no [...]

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Ed, Art, Socialist Party Members, Family and Friends:
No, it is Stewart and I who wish to thank all of the SP members, friends, family and volunteers who worked so hard, and gave of themselves so generously in our 2008 campaign.
A special thanks goes out to Matt Erard, our National Ballot Access Coordinator, for his diligent, [...]

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In a comment at Green Party Watch, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News writes:
The months of November and December of any even-numbered year are the PRIME months to ask state legislators to introduce bills to improve ballot access (and to introduce bills on any subject). If people wait, the legislators will say, “Sorry; I can [...]

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posted by Green Party political director Brent McMillan in a comment at Ballot Access News

Wins for the Green Party, what we know so far:
Arkansas
Richard Carroll was elected to Arkansas State Legislature, District 34.
California
Bruce Delgado was elected to Mayor of Marina City, Monterey County, CA (pop. 25,000)
Ross Mirkarimi was re-elected to San Francisco Board of Supervisors, [...]

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Ballot Access News reports

As a result of the recent election, the Oklahoma and Tennessee legislatures, for the first time ever, are under Republican control in both houses.
During the last fifteen years, legislatures in both states have considered bills to ease ballot access for minor and new parties. In each case, the bills were introduced by [...]

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