A California Superior Court Judge has tentatively ruled that San Jose’s campaign finance law, barring contributions to candidates for city office during the 17 days before the election, is unconstitutional. See this story.
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Every Thursday, the Americans Elect web page posts the number of signatures collected on ballot access petitions to date. The July 28 figure is 1,747,557, up 97,108 from the previous week’s total.
The July 29 issue of the Louisville Courier-Journal has this story about the Green Party’s state convention. The article discusses Kentucky ballot access, but is not completely accurate. In Kentucky, if a group polls 2% of the vote for President, it is a qualified minor party for the next four years, and can nominate by convention, with no petitioning needed. The only parties that have attained that status, in the last 80 years, are the Reform Party 1996-2000, the Anderson Coalition 1980-1984, and the American Party 1968-1972. The article implies that a group must poll 20% in order to be free of petitioning for its nominees.
See here to read an interview with Dan Winslow, chief ballot access attorney for Americans Elect. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Albany County, New York, elects a County Executive this November. No Republican qualified for the party’s primary, for that office. One candidate, Nathan Lebron, tried to get on the Republican primary ballot, but his petition was rejected for lack of enough valid signatures. See this story. The person who challenged his petition is also a Republican. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.