Petitioning is underway for Massachusetts candidates to get on primary ballots for the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green Parties. The primary is in September and the signatures are due in June. The worst petition requirement this year is for candidates for U.S. Senate, who need 10,000 signatures of party members or independent voters.

This article expresses concern by some candidates for U.S. House, who each need 2,000 signatures. It doesn’t say anyone is trying to ameliorate the problem, however.

According to this story, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has acknowledged the difficulty of petitioning due to the current virus situation. New York has its congressional and state office primaries in June, and candidates for district office in that primary must petition to get on the ballot. Only party members may sign these primary petitions, so it is customary in New York city and other urban areas in the state for petitioners to go door-to-door. The petitioning window has opened.

Also, the same story says State Senator James Skoufis has introduced a bill to move the presidential primary from late April to June. Petitioning for the presidential primary is not a problem, because it is over with, but the bill addresses concerns about holding an April election while the virus is a problem.

At the March 3, 2020 primary, California’s 38th Assembly District had no incumbent running. Five Democrats and two Republicans filed. The two Republicans placed first and second, even though in the 2018 election, Democrats had won the seat.

The seat is in northern Los Angeles County.

The top-two system began in California in 2011. This is only the second time Democrats have been left without a candidate in the general election, in a district that the Democratic Party had won in the previous election. The first instance was in 2012, in the 31st U.S. House district.

Republicans suffered from this type of anomaly in 2018 in the 76th Assembly distrrict.