The North Carolina Libertarian Party has requested that the state provide it with a presidential primary, which would be held on May 8. The party has requested that the State Board of Elections list six candidates on the party’s presidential primary ballot: Roger Gary, R. J. Harris, Gary Johnson, Lee Wrights, Carl Person, and Bill Still.

No party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has ever had a presidential primary in North Carolina. North Carolina started holding presidential primaries in 1972. Between 1975 and 2007, no one could get on a North Carolina presidential primary ballot unless he or she had either qualified for primary season matching funds, or submitted 10,000 signatures of party members. The only party (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) entitled to a primary in North Carolina in presidential election years after 1975 was the Libertarian Party, which was able to nominate by primary in these presidential election years: 1980, 1984, 2000, and 2004. But no Libertarian presidential candidate has ever qualified for primary season matching funds, and the party has never had enough registered members to make it feasible for a presidential candidate to get 10,000 signatures of party members. But, in 2007, the law was changed, so that any candidate who is discussed in the news media is now automatically put on the ballot.

In most states with “media” methods for presidential candidates to get on the primary ballot, state elections officials ask the minor party leaders to just tell them which presidential candidates to list on the party’s primary ballot. “Media” coverage of candidates seeking the nomination of minor parties is not very good, and most states acknowledge that and don’t enforce the law literally for minor parties.

Atlanta Progressive News queried all three candidates in the special election set for February 4, to fill the vacant State House seat (60th district) if they support ballot access reform. The two candidates who responded both said “Yes.” The third candidate has so far not replied to the questionaire. See here. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

It is odd that the Georgia Secretary of State’s Advisory Council still has not released its recommendations for changing Georgia election laws. The Council held public meetings around the state during the spring and summer of 2011, and heard more complaints about ballot access than about any other election law issue. It is likely that the Council is not releasing its recommendations until after it has received approval for its ideas from key legislative leaders, and that process is taking longer than expected.

As this story explains, Proposition 14, the “top-two” measure, abolished party nominees and party primaries in California (except for President). So the California Democratic Party has already started holding meetings to decide which Democrat for various U.S. House and state legislative races will get the party’s endorsement for the June 2012 primary. This development illustrates one of the ironies of the movement in favor of “top-two”; that movement includes people who say they hate political parties and want to destroy the influence of political parties.