The printed, monthly Ballot Access News has a 2008 presidential petitioning chart, which shows the progress of petitioning for the leading minor party and independent presidential candidates each month. That chart also shows the deadlines for both full party petitions, and candidate petitions. Unfortunately the print version shows a Maine candidate petition deadline of August 15. The actual deadline is August 8. I regret the error, which will be fixed in the next print issue.
The deadline to get the ballots to the municipal clerks (to verify theat the signers are egistered voters) is August 8. the deadline to get the certified (i.e. by the municipal clerks) ballots to the Secretary of State is August 15. (for purposes of getting signatures, then, the effective deadline is August 8). This is probably the reason for the confusion.
This is off topic Richard.
Could you, however, explain what is up with Cynthia McKinney in California?
McKinney is the Green Party nominee. Meaning she automatically gets the Greens ballot access.
She is also seeking the Peace & Freedom nomination.
Does California allow her to appear on the ballot on both ballot lines?
Yes, California allows fusion for presidential candidates. (California also allows fusion for other office, but it is very difficult. The candidate must win the party that he or she is not a member of, by winning that “foreign” party’s nomination by write-in votes).
California last used fusion for president in 1940, when Wendell Willkie was on the ballot as the nominee of both the Republican Party and of the Townsend Party. Also in 1928, Herbert Hoover was listed both as the Republican nominee and the Prohibition Party nominee.