Jennie Stultz, a former Mayor of Gastonia, North Carolina, tried to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for State House this year, but she was unable to obtain the required signatures. The law required her to get 4% of the number of registered voters in her district, which was about 2,300 signatures. See this story.

Gastonia has a population of approximately 76,000.

When the legislature eased the ballot access laws last year, it eased them for newly-qualifying parties, and independent candidates for statewide office and U.S. House. But it did not ease them for independent candidates for the legislature. Only Georgia has such a difficult petition requirement for independent candidates for the legislature, and Illinois is almost as stringent.

The veteran Los Angeles Times reporter for California state governmnent, George Skelton, has this column. The last sentence is, “Depending on what happens this November, maybe we should consider reforming the system.” This is very significant, because Skelton has been a steadfast and even vociferous supporter of the top-two system ever since it was on the ballot the first time in California, in 2004 (it was defeated that year).

Also, Marty Wilson, spokesperson for the California Chamber of Commerce, is quoted in the piece as suggesting the top-two system should be changed so that it only affects district office, not statewide office. This is also significant. The Chamber of Commerce and the California Business Roundtable some years ago formed a committee to defend the top-two system. That committee has intervened in court in every California lawsuit over any aspect of the top-two system. They even intervened in the pending ACLU lawsuit over party labels for candidates who are registered in unqualified parties, Soltysik v Padilla. That case will get a Ninth Circuit opinion any day now, although it may take time.

Gravis Marketing has released a poll for Indiana 2018 general elections. See question eleven, in which the pollsters asked about the nominees of the Green and Libertarian Parties as well as the major party nominees. The poll shows 10% for the Libertarian and 4% for the Green.

There is no assurance that the Green Party will even be on the ballot in 2018. It is petitioning, but it has never before succeeded in getting on the Indiana ballot for statewide office. The requirement this year is 26,700 signatures. Thanks to Michael for the link.