The only statewide office on the ballot in Missouri this year is Auditor. The only three candidates who have filed in any party’s primary are the Republican incumbent, Tom Schweich; the Libertarian, Sean O’Toole, and the Constitution Party candidate, Rodney Farthing.

An independent candidate, or a newly-qualifying party, could still enter the race with a petition signed by 10,000 signatures, due in late July.

Parties stay on the ballot in Missouri by polling 2% for any statewide race at either of the last two elections. Therefore, because parties remain on the ballot for two elections after meeting the vote test, the Democratic Party will retain its status as a qualified party, notwithstanding its failure to run anyone this year.

The Green Party could easily recover its qualified party status in Missouri by submitting 10,000 valid signatures this year and running someone for Auditor. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.

On March 25, the Fourth Circuit refused to reconsider Pisano v Strach, the case that challenges the North Carolina petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties. The Fourth Circuit had upheld that deadline on February 27. The request for reconsideration pointed out that neither the U.S. District Court, nor the original Fourth Circuit opinion, had let the parties conduct discovery. The purpose of the discovery would have been to show that the state doesn’t really need a May petition deadline in order to check all the signatures in time for the November election. It seems obvious that the state doesn’t need that much time, because it has a June deadline (almost a month later) for independent candidate petitions, and they require just as many signatures if they are for a statewide independent. Also in 1988 the North Carolina Board of Elections let the New Alliance Party submit its petitions in July, without any apparent difficulty. Also in 2004, the state set a July deadline for all independent candidate petitions.

Given the bad weather in the southeastern states this winter, it is difficult to understand how any rational person thinks it is constitutional to force newly-qualifying parties to obtain almost 90,000 valid signatures in the winter and early spring.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Fuller will hear oral arguments in Hall v Bennett on May 30, 2014. This is the case over ballot access requirements for independents and newly-qualifying parties in special congressional elections. The issue is whether the state must either lower the signatures, or grant a later deadline, in special elections, because the petitioning time in special elections is so much shorter.