Last month, the Washington, D.C., city council passed bill 19-547, which changes the petitioning period for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties, for President and all other partisan office. Petitioning can now begin two weeks earlier, and the deadline is two weeks earlier. For 2012, the period opens on June 15 and petitions are due on August 8. Thanks to Bob Johnston for this news.

D.C. does permit presidential stand-ins on petitions, so the changed period does not necessarily prevent an unqualified party from choosing its presidential nominee during August of an election year.

According to this story, four Republican territorial legislators in the Northern Mariana Islands have left the Republican Party and will run for re-election as independent candidates.

On January 10, a group of voters and candidates filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, in the lawsuit over who may circulate nominating petitions to get candidates on New York primary ballots. New York says no one can circulate a petition to get a candidate on a primary ballot unless the circulator is either registered in that party, or a notary public or a commissioner of deeds. The case is Maslow v Board of Elections, 11-857.

The state has already asked for a month’s extension for its response, and the Court has granted the extension. The state’s response is now due March 9.