	Background

On July 6, 2006, a United States District Court ruled that former Representative Tom DeLay, who had earlier won the Republican primary nomination for Congress from the 22 nd District of Texas, could not have his name substituted on the general election ballot by the Republican party even if Mr. DeLay had changed his legal residence and voluntarily withdrew from the race. In Ohio, a different result ensued a month later when Representative Robert Ney, who had won the Republican party nomination in an earlier May primary, formally announced his withdrawal from the race on August 14, 2006. In Connecticut, the defeated candidate for the Democratic party nomination in the August 2006 primary, incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman, appears to be able to be on the ballot either as an "independent" or nominee of a minor party in the general election in November, although a similar ballot position for the general election for one who had lost a party nominating primary would be barred in numerous states (including Ohio) because of the application of their so-called "sore loser" laws. Several years earlier, on September 30, 2002, former Senator Robert Torrecelli, the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate from New Jersey, voluntarily withdrew from the Senate race and, even at that late date, a new candidate was allowed to be chosen by the Democratic party in New Jersey and to have his name appear on the November ballot. Meanwhile in Missouri, the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in the 2000 election, former Governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash on October 16, 2000, three weeks before the general election, was not able to be substituted for, and continued to have his name on the ballot in the November general election. In discussing the breadth of the legislative authority in the states over the conduct of federal elections, the Supreme Court explained as follows:
The subject matter is the "times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives." It is this authority of the states over the ballot, the structure of the ballot, and concerning so-called "ballot access" requirements for political party nominees, new party nominees, and independent candidates, that has led to the varying and different treatment and requirements for placement, removal and/or substitution of a candidate's name on the ballot, depending on the state in which the congressional election is to be held. In Ohio, all political parties are required by the Ohio Constitution to nominate their candidates by a primary election.
In July of 2006 federal courts ruled that former Representative Tom DeLay, who had earlier won the Republican primary nomination for Congress from the 22nd District of Texas, could not have his name substituted on the general election ballot by the Republican party even if Mr. DeLay had changed his legal residence and voluntarily withdrew from the race. In Ohio, however, a different result ensued a month later when Representative Robert Ney, who had won the Republican party nomination in an earlier May primary, formally announced his withdrawal from the race on August 14, 2006, but was permitted to be replaced through a "special primary" to nominate another candidate. In Connecticut, the defeated candidate for the Democratic party nomination in the August 2006 primary, incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman, appears to be able to be on the ballot either as an "independent" or nominee of a minor party in the general election in November, although a similar ballot position for the general election for one who had lost a party nominating primary would be barred in numerous states (including Ohio) because of the application of their so-called "sore loser" laws. Several years earlier, on September 30, 2002, former Senator Robert Torrecelli, the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate from New Jersey, voluntarily withdrew from the Senate race and, even at that late date, a new candidate was allowed to be chosen by the Democratic party in New Jersey and to have his name appear on the November ballot. Meanwhile in Missouri, the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in the 2000 election, former Governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash on October 16, 2000, three weeks before the general election, was not able to be replaced on the ballot, received the most votes in the ensuing election, and the "vacancy" created was filled by a temporary replacement named by the Governor.
It is the constitutional authority of the states in the United States Constitution, at Article I, Section 4, clause 1, concerning the "times, places, and manner" of federal elections, which allows the states to promulgate their own laws, rules and regulations regarding the ballot, the structure of the ballot, and concerning so-called "ballot access" requirements for political party nominees, new party nominees, and independent candidates, that has led to the varying and different treatment and requirements for placement, removal and/or substitution of a candidate's name on the ballot, depending on the state in which the congressional election is to be held.
This report discusses the extent of the states' authority over the procedures of federal elections, examines the limitations placed by the courts on the ability of the states to limit or regulate "ballot access," that is, the requirements of minor or new party candidates, or independent candidates, to have their names printed on the ballot and programmed into voting machines, and analyzes the new cases on ballot access that have been handed down by the Federal courts in recent months.