This story explains how Democratic and Republican Party presidential candidates qualify to be considered in Utah caucuses. The story says the Republican Party charges $7,500 for candidates to compete. Democrats charge $2,500.
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On December 9, filing closed for Idaho presidential primaries. Thirteen Republicans filed. See the list here. The most presidential candidates in an Idaho Republican Party in the past had been five, in 1980. Also three candidates filed in the Constitution Party presidential primary.
The Democratic and Libertarian Parties aren’t holding presidential primaries in Idaho in 2016.
George Pataki and Jim Gilmore didn’t file for the Republican presidential primary. Anyone could qualify by paying $1,000.
On December 9, the North Carolina Republican Party asked the State Board of Elections to list fourteen candidates in its presidential primary. See this story. The Democratic Party of North Carolina had already told the Board to list three candidates (Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley).
The Republican Party included Jim Gilmore and George Pataki, even though they did not file in Oklahoma or Louisiana.
The most crowded presidential primary ballots in North Carolina in the past had been nine Democrats in 1984, and eight Republicans in 1980.
Twelve Republican presidential candidates and seven Democratic presidential candidates filed for the Oklahoma presidential primaries. This is the largest number of Republicans in an Oklahoma presidential primary in history; the previous high for Republicans was eleven in 1988.
Here is the list of candidates from the Oklahoma State Board of Elections webpage. If one scrolls down, one can see copies of each candidate’s filing, which includes the candidate’s home address and date of birth, details which seem somewhat invasive of the candidates’ privacy. Also one can see each candidate’s signature. Donald Trump’s signature is interesting.
On September 9, 2015, the Seventh Circuit struck down an Indiana election law for judicial elections in Indianapolis. The law said no party was permitted to nominate for more than half the seats. Trial court judges in Indianapolis are elected in partisan elections. Because there were almost never any minor party or independent candidates for those judicial posts, the voters had no real choice in November. The Democratic Party ran for half the seats, and the Republican Party did likewise, so voters had no realistic input.
The state has decided not to ask for U.S. Supreme Court review, so the decision will stand. The decision is useful for ballot access challenges because it says that giving voters no choice in the general election is “a severe burden.” The case is Common Cause of Indiana v Individual Members of the Indiana Election Commission, 14-3300.
It is somewhat likely that the legislature will now abolish judicial elections in Indianapolis. In most other parts of Indiana there are no such judicial elections.