a law passed in Maine  this year says each party decides for itself whether to let independent voters sign primary petitions for its own members.  A party that wants its candidates to be able to get signatures from independent voters must tell the Secretary of State by December 31 of the year before the election.

With only a few hours before the deadline, neither the Democratic nor Republican Parties has filed the form.  Unless there is a last minute filing, it appears the two major parties don’t want to let their candidates collect signatures from independent voters.

The other two qualified parties, Green and Libertarian, already filed the form earlier this month.  They do want their candidates to be free to get signatures from independent voters.

Iowa held a special election on December 30 to fill the vacancy in the State Senate, 16th district. The district is centered in Des Moines.

The results: Democratic 71.5%; Republican 28.5%.

When this district had last voted, in November 2024, the only two candidates had been a Democrat and a Libertarian. In that election, the Democrat got 70.1% and the Libertarian got 29.9%. So, the Republican in the current election got a slightly lower percentage than the Libertarian in the last regular election for this seat.

On December 24, the Arizona Secretary of State and the Attorney General filed a brief in state court, arguing that parties have a First Amendment right to change their names if they wish. See this story.