On October 5, Alicia Dearn, an attorney for the Gary Johnson campaign, filed a complaint with the Philadelphia District Attorney, alleging that private detectives working for the Republicans who challenged the statewide Libertarian Party Pennsylvania petition tried to bribe at least one Libertarian petitioner to say that he or she had forged signatures. Dearn also told the District Attorney that at least one of these private detectives attempted to pass himself or herself off as an FBI agent.

In the meantime, the petition-checking process still isn’t finished, but it is very likely that the petition will have enough valid signatures even if the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should reverse the favorable decision of the Commonwealth Court on whether signatures are valid if the signer moved inside the same county and hadn’t yet re-registered.

Several recent New Mexico polls for the U.S. Senate race have shown Independent American Party nominee Jon Barrie at 9%. These polls also generally show the Democratic nominee, Martin Heinrich, hovering near 50%, and Republican nominee Heather Wilson, the Republican nominee, at or near 40%.

Barrie is the first minor party or independent candidate for U.S. Senate to appear on the New Mexico ballot since 1996. The Independent American Party of New Mexico is not affiliated with any party outside New Mexico, and has no presidential nominee.

A Superior Court in Alameda County, California, will hear arguments in Rubin v Bowen, RG 11-605-301, on October 9, 2012, in Oakland, California. This is the lawsuit filed last year by the Peace & Freedom, Libertarian, and Alameda County Green Parties against Proposition 14, the top-two open primary law passed in June 2010.