On March 19, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order concerning primary petitions. All such petitions are to be circulated electronically only, although signatures that had already been collected on paper are valid. The order also relaxes some of the paperwork for such petitions, including the requirement that the circulator of the petition must sign each petition.

However, the order does not apply to general election petitions. The general election petitions are due in early June, unless they are for president, and those are due in late July. Thanks to Brendan Phillips for the link.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert has refused to reduce primary petition requirements, even though he has already used his authority to revise another election law. He suspended the need for candidates to file in person. See this story. The story says a lawsuit is possible.

The Chicago Tribune has this story about the problem that minor party and independent candidates will have with petitioning. The Illinois primary was earlier this month, and all primary petitioning for Republicans and Democrats was carried out last year, so they haven’t had the same problem. The article says it is not likely that the state government will do anything about the problem. A lawsuit filed by the Green and Libertarian Parties will probably be filed soon.