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Why you should care

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition in seeking more choices for all of us on Election Day. Current Pennsylvania law makes it difficult for independent and minor party candidates to appear on the ballot — much more difficult than in most other states. The result is less political competition, less political dialog, and fewer choices to vote for in November. The current system is simply not fair and does a great disservice to the ideal of democracy and to the voters.

In 2006, independent and minor party candidates were required to collect over 67,000 valid signatures simply to get on the state-wide ballot in Pennsylvania on Election Day. Legally, Democratic and Republican candidates require no signatures to get on the state-wide ballot, and even the 2,000 signatures required for the Primary Day ballot are ridiculously smaller than the virtually impossible hurdle of 67,000.

Pennsylvania law needs to be changed by the State Legislature to lower the outrageous signature requirements. The Coalition has drafted a Voters' Choice Act and is seeking sponsorship of it in the General Assembly.

Ballotgate State laws governing ballot access are scandalous

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 00:00
by Lowman S. Henry, CEO and Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research A subplot to the Bonusgate scandal is the ongoing drama of what state Democrats did to prevent Ralph Nader and his Green Party from gaining a spot on the 2004 Presidential Election ballot. Attorney General Tom Corbett's investigation has uncovered a systemic effort by House Democratic employees to frustrate Nader's ballot drive - all allegedly at taxpayer expense. Keeping Nader off the ballot was a top priority for state Democrats in 2004. President Bush and the Democratic Party nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry were running neck-and-neck in the polls. Nader posed a threat to Kerry by virtue of his appeal to ultra-left wing Democrats who might have voted in sufficient numbers for Nader to deny Kerry a win in Pennsylvania. House Democratic staffers are alleged to have submitted fraudulent petitions on Nader's behalf - petitions ultimately challenged in court and tossed from consideration. They also stand accused of working on taxpayer time to comb through Nader's petitions finding signatures which could be disqualified by the courts. Democrats succeeded both in keeping Nader off the ballot and in winning the state for Kerry. Read the rest of Lowman Henry's article titled "Black Robed Bad Boys" at the Lincoln Institute.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 February 2010 18:04