On April 24, 1980, John B. Anderson declared that he would seek the presidency as an independent candidate. He subsequently placed his name on the ballot in all 50 states in November, even though he had already had his name on the ballot, or was about to have his name on the ballot, in two-thirds of the Republican presidential primaries of 1980.

This anniversary, exactly 32 years ago today, shows that candidates can enter the general election for president relatively late in the season, and can get on the ballot in all states. When Anderson declared, the case law regarding deadlines for independent presidential petitions was not nearly as good as it is today.

On February 14, the Michigan Senate passed SB 752. Among other things, it requires qualified parties that nominate by convention to give advance notice of the dates and locations of their nominating conventions to elections officials. It has a hearing on April 24 in the House Redistricting & Elections Committee, at 9:30 a.m., in 521 House Office Building. The bill had passed unanimously in the Senate. If enacted, it goes into effect June 1, 2012. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

On April 23, the Country Party submitted another 1,200 signatures to the Wyoming Secretary of State. Combined with the signatures already submitted, this probably means that the Country Party will probably appear on this year’s ballot. If that happens, Wyoming will have more qualified parties than it has ever had. The other qualified parties are Democratic, Republican, Americans Elect, Constitution, and Libertarian.