The California Secretary of State’s office says it won’t announce the deadline for petitions in lieu of filing fee, until Friday, July 10, for the special U.S. House race, district 10. Cathy Mitchell, chief of the Elections Division, promises that whatever the deadline is, it will be in the future. But since the primary is September 1, chances are candidates who wish to be on the ballot in that election will only have one week. Independent, Democratic and Republican candidates need 3,000 signatures in lieu of the filing fee. Members of qualified minor parties need 150, but whereas anyone can sign the petition that needs 3,000 signatures, only minor party members can sign the petition that needs 150 signatures.
UPDATE: the Secretary of State’s office posted the Calendar for this election on July 8. It shows that the deadline for submitting Petitions in Lieu of the filing fee was July 5. The Governor had not even proclaimed the special election until July 3.
The Contra Costa County registrar of voters told one candidate that the deadline for petitions in lieu of the filing fee was July 6 — two days ago. So the Secretary of State’s office and county election officials do not appear to be singing off the same sheet of music.
This issue comes up because of the way various deadlines are laid out in California law. It’s possible to set the election date in such a way that there’s no time at all to collect signatures in lieu of the filing fee. (I’ve even found one previous special election where the number of days for this was negative.) This clearly discriminates against candidates who can’t pay the fee, which for member of Congress is $1,740.
The deadline for paying the filing fee and submitting the 40 signatures required with the filing fee is July 20. That deadline not in dispute.