On December 29, the 9th circuit agreed with a U.S. District Court that Washington state cannot prohibit anyone from giving as much as $5,000 in a ballot measure campaign, during the three weeks before the election. Family PAC v McKenna, 10-35832. The 24-page opinion is here. The state defended the law by saying because Washington state uses all-mail ballots, lots of voters vote before election day. They might vote before they find out that someone gave as much as $5,000 for or against a ballot measure. But the decision says “voters who cast their ballots while campaigning is in full swing, however, make a voluntary choice to forgo relevant information that may come to light in the final weeks of the campaign.”

The same decision upholds two other Washington state laws. One says all campaign contributions for or against a ballot measure must be reported if they are as large as $25. The other laws says if the donation is as much as $100, the disclosure must include the donor’s employer’s name, and the donor’s occupation.

The petition deadline for candidates running in the District of Columbia presidential primary is January 4, 2012. Republicans need 296 signatures (1% of the number of registered Republicans). Only registered Republicans can sign. The only Republican presidential candidates who have even taken out blank petition forms are Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney. Only Romney has turned in any signatures so far.

In 2008, Fred Thompson took out blank petition forms in D.C., but he did not submit any signatures. The only Republicans who qualified in 2008 in D.C. were John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani. In 2008, the Republican primary required 298 valid signatures.

In the 2012 season, the only Green who has taken out petition forms for the Green presidential primary is Jill Stein. She needs 41 signatures.

U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney of Virginia has set a hearing in Rick Perry’s presidential primary ballot access lawsuit. He will consider Perry’s request for injunctive relief on January 13. In the meantime, he has established a briefing schedule, and also has instructed attorneys for Perry to communicate with all other Republican presidential primary candidates who had filed a declaration of candidacy, to explain to them how they may intervene in the lawsuit. This shows foresight and thoughtfulness on the part of the judge. The case is Perry v Judd, 3:11-cv-856. Judge Gibney is an Obama appointee. The issue is the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.