• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Ballot Access Candidates: A National Mandate

by Andrew Straw - October 15, 2022

Facebook19TweetLinkedInPin1Shares20

Another election is about to come and go, but the results for smaller parties depend on the results in certain races.

Ballot access is not treated the same in every state. In Indiana, a small or new party must achieve 2% of the vote (nearly 50,000 votes) for Secretary of State to escape huge signature gathering burdens.

The ballot access barrier and the 2% work together to ensure that there are no small or new parties with statewide ballot access except the Libertarian Party. That means it is very rare for any other party to appear.

I am running for Secretary of State as a write-in so other disabled people can run under Disability Party easily and without the signature burdens. In many cases, having that 2% status allows Disability Party (like Libertarians) to simply appoint a candidate with a simple form to the Secretary of State’s Election Division.

My friend, David Wetterer, is running for Indiana Secretary of State as a write-in also, only he is doing it for the Green Party.

Essentially, there are 3 candidates who will appear on the ballot, representing the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Libertarian Party. David and I show that having a Green Party candidate and a Disability Party candidate can shift the conversation away from the usual, the same old.

We need better attention to the environment and government integrity and care for social justice. That is the main message of the Green Party. I know because I was the Indiana delegate to the Green Party National Convention in 2012.

We need better attention to the rights and opportunities of disabled persons. We need courts to stop discriminating against disability rights and their messengers. That’s what my Disability Party is all about.

When the Democrats and Republicans worry about losing because voters agree with the minor parties, that will cause an electoral policy shift much greater than one might expect from a small party existing on the ballot.

People like David and me are not running so we can have a fat public salary or pension benefits or act like election overlords, overturning elections. We run so other people have the chance to run on a different platform and policies than the major parties. We hold open the doors for others.

I hope that at some point someone will create a website that lists all of the ballot access candidates across the United States. These candidates are not doing it for themselves, but to help others participate. That ballot access goal for others is fundamental to expanding democracy and policy and all such candidates deserve national recognition for their efforts.

Instead of covering the bickering of the big parties when little will change whichever candidate wins, media should be covering those who run to open up the ballot to millions of other people whose voices are not heard today. The media does have a role in making sure voters know about these special “ballot access” candidates.

Facebook19TweetLinkedInPin1Shares20

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Disability and Democracy, Third Party, Voter Access

About Andrew Straw

Andrew Straw is a person with disabilities who practiced disability law and engages in disability reform advocacy.    Straw was a Virginia lawyer and has served as corporate counsel for billionaire Alan M. Voorhees, who designed the Interstate Highway System and the Metro in Washington DC.  Straw then worked for the Chief Justice of Indiana and was the assistant dean in charge of the International Programs at Indiana University-Maurer School of Law.

He grew up in Indiana, where his brother, a retired USAF captain and twice a critical care trauma nurse veteran of Afghanistan, ran as a Democratic candidate for sheriff of Hamilton County in 2018.  Jason Straw is head of Indiana NORML and seeks reforms of the state’s marijuana laws like most other states have.  Jason is known as “Captain Cannabis.”

Andrew Straw was born at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, where his father was training as a U.S. Marine for his Vietnam duty.  Straw was thus poisoned on the first days of his life but was denied compensation and health care.  Straw v. Wilkie, 843 F. App’x 263 (Fed. Cir. 1/15/2021); Straw v. United States, 4 F.4th 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2021).  Straw started a group for people born or poisoned there called Children of Camp LeJeune.  Congress voted to compensate people like Straw and his dead mother from the poisoning (S. 3373, Title VIII, Sec. 804).  This new law has passed the U.S. House by 342-88 and the U.S. Senate by 86-11.  It will likely be signed by President Biden in early August now that it has passed both houses.

Straw has visited 16 countries and has lived in the United States, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, and the Philippines.  Straw provided services to the Italian Foreign Ministry as a contractor and passed the written U.S. Foreign Service Officer Test in 1998.  For more information, Straw’s CV can be found here.  Straw has lived in the Philippines for over 4 years, from June 2018 – August 2022, studying disability access in that country, but may one day return to the United States when the human rights violations stop.

He is an asylum seeker due to the discrimination and human rights violations of state and federal courts in the USA.  Andrew Straw lives just 1374 km from where his father was stationed in Vietnam. See also. Straw is engaging in pro se law reform from a distance.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | Ballot Access Candidates: A National Mandate

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

Quality Education and Prioritizing Children: Fighting GOP Exploitation

By Jack Jones March 14, 2023

The GOP has turned its back on the educational needs of America’s youth. We need to invest in our children and protect their futures.

Finding the “We” in Civic Engagement

By Jenna Spinelle March 4, 2023

Collective action problems arise for people who want to get things done. Forming functional groups is key to effective civic engagement.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Taking Cues From The American Oligarchy

By Jack Jones February 20, 2023

The more the GOP has become complete obedience to their oligarch masters, the more they are driving the right winged minded fringe.

How california made a polish poet great

By Joe Mathews February 8, 2023

Exiled to Berkeley, Czesław Miłosz explored the margins of alienation, the horrors of his past, and visions of the future.

What Will It Take To Make Democracy More Representative?

By Jenna Spinelle February 8, 2023

Multiple dimensions of identity simultaneously shape pathways to candidacy and representation for all groups seeking a seat.

Courts Off The Deep End, Again

By Andrew Straw February 1, 2023

Closing the courts, shutting down dissent, and violating the rights of whistleblowers. These are not the actions of an open, free society.

The Christian Evangelical Church

By Jack Jones January 22, 2023

I am not against Big Business having a voice, just not all the voices, and especially not an impersonator pretending to speak for God.

No One In Monterey County Is Good Enough To Serve In Legislature

By Joe Mathews January 9, 2023

California’s “democratic reforms” have left a place as… [key] as Monterey County without any state representation from one of its own.

In America, the Joe-mocracy Rules

By Joe Mathews December 27, 2022

A republic? A democracy? No, our country is an avuncular autocracy run by old guys named joe.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

March 16, 2023

El Paso’s Project XV Museum, Texas’ first voting rights museum, has been built over the last year by David Strother, a barbershop owner.

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

January 30, 2023

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to comparisons [with]…Rasputin who treated the son of the last tsar for haemophilia.

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

January 30, 2023

Newly-launched AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT is changing the internet landscape. It presents several opportunities, including in education.

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

January 26, 2023

The workshop assisted Girl Scouts in grades K–10 in earning their Democracy Badge through learning activities on democracy.

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

January 26, 2023

Sharing personal experiences and pairing them with facts reduces political dehumanization and increases political tolerance.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy