In July this year, Laura Thompson was told by the Texas Secretary of State that she did not have the needed 500 valid signatures to be on the November 2016 ballot as an independent candidate for State Representative, 120th district. This announcement had been proved to be ironic on August 2, when Thompson was elected to the same district for a short term. She had been on the ballot in the special election easily, because Texas does not require any candidate in a special election to submit a petition.

Thompson did not agree that she had failed to get 500 valid signatures to be on the November 2016 ballot for the same office. She contested the ruling that her petition was not valid. Finally, on September 8, the Secretary of State changed his mind and said her petition is valid. See this story.

Obtaining 500 signatures may sound easy, but when the petitioning period is short, and when the law provides that no one who voted in the primary may sign (as Texas does), it is not easy.

Texas has a straight-ticket device, which will make it more difficult for Thompson to be re-elected. Thanks to Sidney Smith for the link.

On September 12, U.S. District Court Judge James M. Moody, Jr., again found that Arkansas election law concerning when newly-qualifying parties must nominate their candidates is unconstitutional. He had made a similar ruling on July 15, but on August 12 the state had asked for reconsideration. Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Martin, e.d., 4:15cv-635.

The law says new parties must hold their nominating convention an entire year before the election. The Libertarian Party had complied with this law by holding its nominating convention for 2016 on October 24, 2015. But it had wanted to nominate some more candidates, and had held a second convention in February 2016. The state argued in its request for reconsideration that the party lacked standing, because it complied with the law when it held its first convention.

Of course, if the party had not held a convention in October 2015, it would have run the risk that it might possibly lose the lawsuit (which had been filed in 2015) and then be left with no candidates in 2016.

The ruling of July 15, 2016, which has now been affirmed, applies to future elections as well.

This year, there is no Democratic Party nominee for U.S. House in the First, Third, and Fourth Districts of Arkansas. By comparison, in 2014, Democrats had nominees in three of the four districts.

This year and also in 2014, Libertarians ran for all four seats. There were no independent candidates either year, and no nominees of any other party.