North Carolina has had government-printed ballots ever since 1901, and no independent candidate for either House of Congress has ever appeared on such a ballot. Independent candidates for U.S. House need signatures of 4% of the number of registered voters, which is as much as 20,000 in some districts. Here is a story about Brad Smith, who is attempting to obtain the needed 17,000 valid signatures to run in the 5th district in 2010. Here is his web page.

A lawsuit is currently pending against the independent requirement for U.S. House, called Greene v Bartlett, 5:08-cv-0088, U.S. District Court, western district. It was filed in 2008 and hasn’t had oral arguments yet. It is moving slowly because the attorney for the plaintiff, Law Professor Bob Bastress, is on a special assignment to redraft West Virginia sentencing laws, which is occupying all of his time. But he will be back working on the case next month.