On November 11, the Michigan Secretary of State released the names of candidates who will be on the February 28, 2012 presidential primary ballots. Here is the Republican list, which includes eleven candidates. The link also includes the Democratic list. The Republican list includes Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger, two candidates who names have not been included on the Florida Republican presidential primary ballot. The Michigan Republican Party compiled the list.

The Michigan Democratic presidential primary ballot just lists President Obama. Michigan does not give a presidential primary to any of the smaller qualified parties.

Anyone not on today’s list may still get on the presidential primary ballot by petition. To get on the Republican presidential primary, 10,244 signatures are needed (one-half of 1% of the November 2008 Republican presidential vote). To get on the Democratic ballot, the petition must include 14,000 signatures. Any registered voter may sign. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

After the 2010 census, the Illinois legislature drew new boundaries for U.S. House and legislative districts. The Democratic Party controls both houses of the legislature and holds the Governor’s chair, so the plan, not surprisingly, was drawn to maximize advantages for Democrats. The Illinois League of Women Voters then filed a lawsuit, alleging that the First Amendment bars using partisan considerations when redistricting is carried out. The case, League of Women Voters v Quinn, lost on October 28 in a 3-judge U.S. District Court. Here is the 9-page opinion. The case only deals with legislative redistricting, not U.S. House redistricting.

Now the League is considering whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court several times has rejected challenges to gerrymandering, but those past decisions were based on the 14th amendment. The League’s case instead is based on the First Amendment. Here is the League’s brief in U.S. District Court, which tried to persuade the U.S. District Court to focus on Justice Anthony Kennedy’s concurrence in Vieth v Jubelirer, in which Kennedy hinted that while he would not invalidate Pennsylvania’s gerrymander in that case, that the First Amendment might someday compel a finding that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional.

The 3-judge U.S. District Court in Illinois did not even discuss Vieth, except in the second-to-last paragraph of the opinion.

On November 10, the Arkansas Secretary of State said that the Americans Elect ballot access petition has enough valid signatures. Americans Elect used the easy petition in Arkansas, the one that only requires 1,000 valid signatures and which only puts a party on the ballot for President. Americans Elect is now ballot-qualified, at least for President, in eight states.

When the Reform Party was doing the same qualification work in late 1995, at this point (mid-November) it was only on the ballot in one state, California.