The North Dakota petition deadline for independent candidates is Tuesday, September 6. Three presidential petitions were submitted: Darrell Castle, Rocky De La Fuente, and Jill Stein. Evan McMullin decided not to petition in North Dakota.
North Dakota permits labels for candidates who use the independent presidential procedure, so Stein will be on the ballot as “Green”, and Castle on as “Constitution.”
The three qualified parties in North Dakota are Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican.
The Kentucky Secretary of State has determined that Jill Stein’s presidential petition is valid. The office won’t check the De La Fuente and McMullin petitions until they are submitted, of course. The petition deadline in Kentucky is Friday, September 9.
The Libertarian and Green Party petitions for President were filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday, September 6. The Secretary of State has already determined that the Libertarian petition is valid, and the office is reviewing the Green Party petition.
Rocky De La Fuente will be submitting his petition later in the week. It is not known if Evan McMullin will also be submitting a petition. The deadline is Friday, September 9. The requirement is 5,000 signatures.
Officials who administer elections in China have long maintained that there is no such thing as an independent candidate for public office in China. However, according to this story, Yang Tingjian insists that the election law permits them. Because he filed to run for office, he is under house arrest and cannot leave his home to campaign. The election is September 9. Election law in China does not permit political parties to exist unless they are approved by the government, although this restriction does not apply to Hong Kong.
On August 31, a state trial court in Georgia ruled that independent candidate Earl White has enough valid signatures to be on the ballot for Stewart County Commissioner, district 3. See this story.
Stewart County only has a population of 6,058, so the number of signatures needed by White was only 32. The dispute was over (1) whether petitions should be counted if they did not specify which county commission district the candidate is running in; (2) whether a signature is valid or invalid if the signer signs in the space reserved for printed name and then prints in the space reserved for the signature; (3) whether a signature is invalid if the signer omits his or her municipality. White won on all three points. It is somewhat likely the decision will be appealed.
White is represented by State Senator Josh McKoon, who again told the press that next year, he will introduce a bill to repeal all mandatory petitions for independent candidates. Thanks to Bryan Sells for the link.
