On January 22, the Houston Chronicle published this story about the unknown date of the coming Texas primary. The story is interesting because it points out that the later the primary is, the better that is for non-incumbents who want to challenge incumbents in a primary.

No Texas journalist ever thinks to mention the effect of the primary date on petitioning for independent candidates and minor political parties. As has been said here several times, petitioning in Texas for independent candidates and political parties can’t start until after the primary. And the petition deadline for independent presidential candidates is fixed in the law as the second Tuesday in May, or May 14, 2012.

Texas has a unique law, requiring that any group that intends to petition for party status must notify the state no later than January 2 of an election year. This year, ten groups filed the notice, more than ever before. The requirement has existed since 1993, has never been tested in court, and would probably be held unconstitutional if a new party formed after January 2 ever challenged it in court.

The ten groups that filed the notice are described in this Politex story. The ten are Americans Elect, Christian, Constitution, Generation, Justice, Make America Great, Reform, Revive America, Socialist, and Texas Independent Party. The Christian and Generation Parties have recently said that they don’t really expect to petition in 2012, although because they filed the notice, they are legally free to do so. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

This Richmond Times-Dispatch story mentions that the Virginia State Board of Elections has complied with the Republican Party’s request to drop the loyalty oath for voters. The party had originally required all voters to pledge to vote for the Republican nominee in November, as a condition of receiving a ballot on March 6. As the story mentions, Newt Gingrich is a resident of Virginia, and he has already said that if Ron Paul becomes the Republican nominee, he will not vote for Paul. So, Newt would not have been able to vote in the March 6 primary if the oath had not been revoked.

Although Gingrich is now free to vote in his own state’s presidential primary, one wonders if he will vote, because his choices are limited to Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, and write-ins are not permitted.