A November 10 blog post at this site said that 25 minor party and independent candidates had been elected to state legislatures this month. Checking records of past elections reveals that this is the highest such number since 1942, when there were 31 such candidates elected. In 1944, there were 22 such candidates elected, and at no time since 1944 (until 2012) had there been any election with more than 17.

None of the independent and minor party candidates who were elected in 2012 were elected from states with a top-two primary system.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has finished counting votes for candidates who were on the ballot, although it still hasn’t completed the write-in canvass for President. It appears that in 2014 (and also 2016) the state will require 89,379 valid signatures, both for a new party and an independent statewide candidate. This is the highest number in all 50 states for a statewide independent candidate in 2014. Thanks to Kevin Hayes for the number. Activists in North Carolina will again try to pass a bill in 2013 to ease the requirement.

Last year, a U.S. District Court in Virginia struck down Virgina’s ban on out-of-state circulators. The state is appealing. On November 16, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression filed this amicus curiae brief, on the side of the Libertarian Party. The Jefferson Center is 21 years old and is non-partisan; here is a description of the organization.

The amicus argues that the plaintiffs in the case, Libertarian Party of Virginia v Judd, do have standing. The state has been trying to persuade the 4th circuit that the plaintiffs don’t have standing.