On the last day for filing Illinois petition challenges, Rob Sherman filed challenges to the statewide petitions of the Constitution Party and the Socialist Party. He also challenged the petition of independent presidential candidate Mary Vann. These challenges mean that these parties and candidates will not appear on the ballot, because the petitions have substantially fewer signatures than the legal requirement of 25,000.

Rob Sherman is a Green Party member, and is a Green Party nominee for U.S. House this year. However, the Illinois Green Party does not support his actions. Sherman filed similar objections to the Constitution Party and the Socialist Party in Illinois in 2012.

No one has challenged the Libertarian or Green Party petitions, although the period for filing challenges still has not closed. The deadline is July 5 at 5 p.m. Illinois time.

Indiana has the nation’s earliest deadline for write-in candidates to file to have their write-ins counted. That deadline is July 5 at noon. The complete list has not yet been compiled, but the Secretary of State’s office confirmed that Jill Stein, Darrell Castle, Emidio Soltysik, and Tom Hoefling did file as write-ins. They are the presidential nominees of the Green, Constitution, Socialist, and America’s Independent Party. Also independent presidential candidates Rocky De La Fuente and Larry Kotlikoff filed.

No person named “Bernie Sanders” filed. The only party on the Indiana ballot besides the Republican and Democratic Parties is the Libertarian Party.

California law generally says that only two candidates may be on the November ballot for congress or partisan state office. That has been the law starting in 2011. But, for the first time since the top-two law went into effect, there will be three candidates on the November ballot for one legislative race. That race is for the Assembly, 62nd district, in Los Angeles County. There is a tie between two write-in candidates in the June 7 primary. Only one name was printed on the primary ballot, incumbent Democrat Autumn Burke. Two candidates filed to have their write-ins counted in June, and they both got 32 write-ins. One is a Republican and one is a Libertarian.

Election Code section 8142(b)(3) covers this situation, and says a tie for second place means that three candidates qualify for November. Thanks to Ted Brown for this news.