On the afternoon of August 12, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrary signed HB 589, the omnibus election law bill. There will now certainly be one or more lawsuits to overturn various parts of the bill. The bill has many provisions that make it more difficult for voters to vote.

There are a few minor ballot access improvements in the bill. The petition in lieu of the filing fee is reduced somewhat. The bill also deletes the requirement that presidential primary candidates must either receive public funding or submit 10,000 signatures, although that restriction had not been enforced in 2012 because it was believed to be unconstitutional.

The bill also eliminates the straight-ticket device. Only twelve states still have the device.

The bill also moves the presidential primary from May to an earlier month that is determined by when South Carolina holds its presidential primary.

Dan Fein, the Socialist Workers Party nominee for Mayor of New York city, and Mary Martin, SWP nominee for Mayor of Seattle, spent some time in Egypt during the latter part of July. See this story in The Militant. Egypt, of course, is a nation undergoing a great deal of political ferment this year.

Both candidates are circulating petitions to be on the ballot in their respective cities. Fein’s petition was signed by 3,000 persons during the first week it was circulated.

The Alabama Libertarian Party has nominated Dick Coffee for U.S. House, for the special election in the First district that will be held later this year. The party has already started petitioning to get on the ballot for that election.