North Carolina is one of the thirteen states in which the state income tax form lets taxpayers choose to help any particular ballot-qualified party. This year, the state recently sent these amounts to each of the three ballot-qualified parties: Democratic $1,456,436; Republican $898,532; Libertarian $96,664.

Amounts are larger in presidential election years than in other years, because the state policy is to hold back some of the money in non-presidential years, and release it in presidential election years.

The Libertarian Party will probably spend a major share of its money for its gubernatorial campaign, because the party must poll at least 2% of the vote for either President or Governor in order to remain on the ballot in 2014 and 2016. North Carolina elects its Governors in presidential election years. Parties face no vote test in mid-term years.

Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party presidential candidate, will appear on the Washington state ballot. The Secretary of State’s office had already validated all the other presidential petitions this year, but did not finish validating the Constitution Party petition until August 9. Thanks to Gary Odom for this news.

The petitions that had already been validated in that state are Libertarian, Green, Justice, Socialist Workers, and Party for Socialism and Liberation.

New Jersey state elections officials are among the kindest and most cooperative of the election officials of any state. Recently the New Jersey elections department approved the idea that petitions for presidential ballot access, for independent candidates and for the nominees of unqualified parties, may be circulated with no presidential or vice-presidential candidates listed. These petitions must instead carry the names of presidential elector candidates.

The purpose of this idea is to make it possible for groups to circulate the petition before they have chosen their national ticket. The elector candidates would tell the state whom they are pledged to, once they know the names of the presidential and vice-presidential ticket. That notification can be later than the actual petition deadline, which is always in late July.

It would be very good if states such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alabama, would also approve this idea. Those states won’t permit stand-in presidential candidates on petitions because they feel placing stand-in presidential candidates mislead the voters who are asked to sign. So, logically, the way to solve that problem is to simply leave the presidential and vice-presidential candidates off the petition, and simply include the presidential elector candidates and the party label on the petition.