Re: Election Laws revisited

by SamCogar Tue May 27, 2008 6:51 am

ziggy wrote:
SamCogar wrote:Well "DUH", ..... if it is not stipulated in Section 3 of the WV Code ..... then the SOS and/or the CCs ...... are not authorized to determine any such thing.

Then what's to keep some Republican County Clerk from putting the name of Joe Biden for President on that county's Democratic ballot line- even though the DNC's nominee be Clinton or Obama?

Ziggy, just what exactly about ...............

are not authorized to determine any such thing

that you do not understand? geek

Are you again having "flashbacks" about your father, or what?

.

by ziggy Tue May 27, 2008 9:52 am

Nah, my father was a school teacher, not a County Clerk.

by SamCogar Wed May 28, 2008 5:55 am

ziggy wrote:Nah, my father was a school teacher, not a County Clerk.

Yes, and you were his rebellious son ...... and that was the reason for my question.

by SamCogar Wed May 28, 2008 6:02 am

ziggy wrote:I have studied West Virginia election law for almost 20 years.

Ziggy, I really think you should be asking for your money back.

.

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 6:27 am

I don't care who you are, that was funny.

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 8:46 am

SamCogar wrote:
ziggy wrote:I have studied West Virginia election law for almost 20 years.

Ziggy, I really think you should be asking for your money back.

.

Sam, did you ever read Article 3-5 of that election code you were telling us about? What did it say specifically related to the inclusion/exclusion of Candidate names on primary elections ballots?

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 8:50 am

Aaron wrote:

I don't care who you are, that was funny.

So Aaron, have you read Article 3-5 of that election code Sam was telling us about? What does it say about either political party or state and local government control of the names of candidates on the primary election ballot?

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 8:53 am

Now why would I need to go and read Article 3-5 of the West Virginia code Frank? I know who controls elections in West Virginia and how it works.

And you can get pissy if you want to, it was still funny!!!

Election Laws revisited - Page 2 197570

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 8:58 am

Aaron wrote:Now why would I need to go and read Article 3-5 of the West Virginia code Frank? I know who controls elections in West Virginia and how it works.

And you can get pissy if you want to, it was still funny!!!

Now why would I be pissy faced? How many new political parties have you and Sam kept on the ballot for 8 years- for 5 election cycles? .

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 9:03 am

I have no idea what you're talking about Frank. You'll have to explain that one.

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 9:11 am

Aaron wrote:I have no idea what you're talking about Frank.

That was my point, exactly.

Sad

by **Stephanie** Wed May 28, 2008 9:18 am

Ziggy,

What's the criteria now for gaining/keeping ballot access?

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 9:22 am

ziggy wrote:
Aaron wrote:I have no idea what you're talking about Frank.

That was my point, exactly.

You have a point. Wow, something new.

Laughing

So in your 20 years of studying election laws Frank, have you managed to get anything changed?

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 9:28 am

We're working on it.

How about you?

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 9:54 am

What's wrong with the way it is now?

by **Stephanie** Wed May 28, 2008 10:03 am

Ballot access should be easier to obtain. Every time an independent or third party candidate meets the criteria, it seems they raise the bar. That should be changed.

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 10:12 am

Stephanie wrote:Ziggy,

What's the criteria now for gaining/keeping ballot access?

In West Virginia, to get on the general election ballot other than as a candidate of an already established political party, a candidate or new party needs to get petition signatures of at least two percent of the voters who voted for the office sought in the previous election.

As to "keeping" ballot access, only a political party can keep or maintain continuing ballot access. It does so only by having received at least one percent of the votes cast for its its candidate for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election.

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 10:13 am

Aaron wrote:What's wrong with the way it is now?

It is not progressive enough.

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 10:14 am

In West Virginia, they need to get 1% of the vote or a minimum amount of signatures on a petition.

1%

1 FREAKING PERCENT

If a party can't get, what, ~5000 votes, or you can't get 2% of the people to sign their name, do they really deserve access to the ballot?

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 10:32 am

ziggy wrote:
Aaron wrote:What's wrong with the way it is now?

It is not progressive enough.

How so?

by ziggy Wed May 28, 2008 10:52 am

Read my posts since the advent of this forum and you will understand why I believe current government policy and procedures are not progressive enough.

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 11:00 am

Right off the top of my head I'd say it's becasue your a communist/socialist???

That about right?

Even so though, that still doesn't answer the specific question about why the WV ballot access laws need changed. What's wrong with requiring a party to get a mininum amount of votes to gain ballot access or requiring a candidate from a loon party to get signatures? I guess you would prefer to let every body and their brother put their name on the ballot, huh Frank.

by **Stephanie** Wed May 28, 2008 11:01 am

No, it's two percent, not one. Also, it is a bit more complex than just having voters sign a single petition. Each voter must sign a petition specific to their county.

Imagine you're trying to gain ballot access for a gubanatorial candidate, as the Constitution Party has been trying to do. So you attempt to collect signatures at big events that draw lots of people. You have to have 55 different petitions and then dig through them to find which specific individual needs to sign.

by Aaron Wed May 28, 2008 11:08 am

Nah, it's 1% in West Virginia.

History
Under West Virginia ballot access laws, a party gains automatic ballot access for the subsequent election cycle by gaining one-percent of the votes for Governor. The party, having obtained access by petition in 2000, achieved that one-percent in that election and again in 2004, meaning it will have access through 2008.

Here's a suggestion. Get a 3 ring binder and put the counties in alphabetical order and then when the signer tells you what county they reside in, you flip to that county and have them sign. I'll bet it would take all of what, 5 extra seconds.

by SamCogar Wed May 28, 2008 11:15 am

ziggy wrote:
SamCogar wrote:
ziggy wrote:I have studied West Virginia election law for almost 20 years.

Ziggy, I really think you should be asking for your money back.

.

Sam, did you ever read Article 3-5 of that election code you were telling us about? What did it say specifically related to the inclusion/exclusion of Candidate names on primary elections ballots?

Ziggy baby, didn't you tell us already what it specifically in general said about including/excluding Candidate Names?

Sure you did, and here below I highlighted that portion, to wit:

ziggy wrote:
Sam, read your own link. The WV Code at §3-5 has very specific criteria, specified in law and not by the political parties, about who may run for what, with which public official they must file as a candidate, and when they must file, and the precise form they use to file for public office, and that it is the office of the Secretray of State, and not a state or local political party committee that designs said filing form. A political party may not excersice veto of any legally filed candidate on its primary elecvtion ballot. Even the order of appearance of names on the ballot is via a procedure spelled out in law. About all the authority political party executive committees have re: primary elections is to: (1) Offer suggestions to the County Clerk for poll workers, and (2) appoint to vacancies in filing. Everything else as relates to Primary Elections is spelled out in the state code at CHAPTER 3, ARTICLE 5. — PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.

And neither a state nor local political party committee can substitute their whims for a any of it.

Zig, if there is anything illegal about a Candidate's filing ....... they sure as hell can take action to "veto" their name from the ballot.

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