Rob Sobhani’s petition for ballot access has been approved by the State Board of Elections in Maryland. He needed 34,713 valid signatures and he submitted approximately 77,000. He is the first independent candidate for U.S. Senate to qualify in that state since 1976, when Bruce Bradley qualified.
On August 27, the Maryland State Board of Elections determined that both the Libertarian Party petition and the Green Party petition have enough valid signatures. Both parties had earlier been told they were on the ballot by a lower state court, which had validated some signatures that the Board had rejected. But then the highest state court, the State Court of Appeals, had reversed the lower court.
Fortunately, the court acted quickly, so there was time for both parties to gather additional signatures. The additional signatures now mean the two parties are ballot-qualified, and their nominees for all the offices they nominated for will be on the ballot. Thanks to Bob Johnston for this news.
Ron Paul says he won’t address the Republican national convention, because the offer to let him speak had two unacceptable conditions. See this story.
On August 23, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court expedited Applewhite v Pennsylvania, 71 MAP 2012. This is the case over whether the new government photo-ID law violates the Pennsylvania Constitution. All briefs will be in by September 7.
According to this story, a lower state court judge in South Carolina has ordered the Republican Party to hold a supplemental primary in one legislative district, and a second such lawsuit is pending. The story mentions the federal law that requires overseas absentee ballots to be mailed at least 45 days before any primary or any election, but fails to note that the law only pertains to federal office.
Several other states and territories are holding September primaries, including Delaware, Guam, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York (but the New York primary is for state and local office, not Congress). UPDATE: here is a much more detailed article.
