The Central African Republic held a presidential election on January 3, with 30 candidates on the ballot. An independent candidate placed first. No one got as much as 50%, so there will be a runoff on January 31. See this story.
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Jill Stein, the only presidential candidate other than Martin O’Malley who is actively working to qualify for primary season matching funds, has now met the legal requirement in 13 states. Candidates must raise at least $5,000 from each of 20 states. For the purpose of qualifying for primary season matching funds, only the first $250 from any single donor counts.
The Stein campaign is working on these eight states to finish the job: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Connecticut has a closed presidential primary on April 26 for the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. Brendan Cox, opinion page editor of The Bulletin of Norwich, has this column of advice for Connecticut independent voters. He is a registered independent himself. He points out that an independent who wants to vote in the more interesting presidential primary is free to wait until the day before the primary to join one of the two major parties. However, anyone who wants to join one of those parties as late as April 25 must do it in person at the town hall. Someone who uses the mail must make sure that the form arrives by April 21. See his column here.
Ed Straker has this list of states in which non-Republicans can vote in Republican presidential primaries and caucuses. The list differentiates between open primaries and semi-closed primaries. In open primaries, any voter can choose any party’s ballot. In semi-closed primaries, independents can choose any party’s primary ballot, but members of parties other than the Republican Party cannot.
Straker’s list has 26 states. However, the list appears to be wrong about Arizona and Oklahoma. Independents cannot vote in the Republican presidential primary in Arizona, not any Republican primaries in Oklahoma. If a similar list for Democrats were compiled, it would include California, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Even though Gary Johnson has not declared for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination in 2016, the North Carolina Libertarian Party has listed him in its March 15, 2016 presidential primary. The party also listed ten other candidates: Marc Allan Feldman, John David Hale, Cecil Ince, Steve Kerbel, Darryl Perry, Austin Petersen, Derrick Reid, Jack Robinson, Rhett Smith, and Barbara Joy Waymire. Here is the list for all three parties with North Carolina presidential primaries.