On April 3, the deadline for newly-qualifying parties to file petitions in New Mexico, the Constitution Party submitted 4,811 signatures, and the Green Party submitted 4,280 signatures. The law requires 3,009 valid signatures.

Also, another party called the Independent American Party submitted a petition. It is not known how many signatures it submitted. Nor is it known if this is a party with a national affiliation. If any reader knows more, please comment.

New Mexico already had five qualified parties: Democratic, Republican, Independent Party, Libertarian, and Americans Elect.

On April 3, the Peace & Freedom Party filed this complaint in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. It challenges the California Secretary of State’s removal of Peta Lindsay from the party’s list of presidential primary candidates. Peta Lindsay is under the age of 35. She is the presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The case is Lindsay v Bowen, 2:2012-cv-853. It is assigned to Judge Garland Burrell, a Bush Sr. appointee.

The California Secretary of State was also sued on March 20 by individuals who feel she has a duty to determine whether presidential candidates meet the constitutional qualifications to hold the office. That case is pending in Superior Court in Sacramento, and is Dummett v Bowen, 34-2012-80001091. It was filed by individuals who believe that President Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications. Here is the Dummett complaint.

When one thinks about both of these cases, the conclusion comes to mind that the California Secretary of State is espousing contradictory positions. In the Dummett case, she says it is not her duty to determine if presidential candidates meet the constitutional qualifications. In the Lindsay case, she will presumably take a different position.

The New Republic has this essay by Nicholas Stephanopoulos, which points out that the U.S. has one of the worst methods for drawing legislative district boundaries of any free country in the world. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.