On July 30, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King asked the Bernalillo District Court that is hearing Crum v Duran to let him intervene in the case. The lawsuit, filed by some independent voters, says that the New Mexico Constitution requires that independent voters be allowed to vote in partisan primaries. The Secretary of State, Dianna Duran, has chosen not to defend the law, and she is the Defendant. Therefore, unless the Attorney General is allowed to intervene, there will be no one to defend the state law that says only party members may vote in party primaries.

Ed Forchion, an independent candidate for U.S. House in New Jersey’s 3rd district, was ruled off the ballot after his petition was challenged. He needed 100 valid signatures. He submitted 200. But his petition was challenged, and election administrators determined that he had only 99 valid signatures. He appealed to Superior Court in June, but was told that he must go to the State Appeals Court.

However, the State Appeals Court won’t hear his case unless he pays $3,500 for a transcript of the proceedings before election officials. See this story.

Forchion says that he should be on the ballot because: (1) he does have 100 valid signatures; (2) if he doesn’t, it is because election officials gave him a map of the district that had errors in it; (3) regardless of all that, the law says challenges are due four days after the petition is submitted, but the Democratic Party official who challenged his petition didn’t object until six days; (4) furthermore the challenge was faxed, and that is not a permissible means for a challenge to be filed.