On December 28, both Americans Elect, and the Justice Party, filed the notice with the Texas Secretary of State saying they intend to petition to get on the 2012 ballot. Texas law does not permit this petition to start circulating until the primary is over. The Texas 2012 primary will be April 3. The petition deadline is June 17.

Other unqualified parties that had already filed the notice include the Constitution Party and the Generation Party. The Libertarian and Green Parties are already on the Texas ballot, so do not need to petition. The notice is due January 2, 2012.

As reported earlier, on November 21, 2011, the Peace & Freedom, Libertarian and Green Parties filed a lawsuit in state court against the essence of the top-two system. Hearings are now set in that case, which is in Alameda County Superior Court and is called Rubin v Bowen. On March 13 the court will hear the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction against Proposition 14. And on March 20, the court will hear the motion by the state to dismiss the case. Thanks to Dave Kadlecek for this news.

According to this story, Rhode Island Republican Party officials are worried that the leading Republican presidential candidates will have trouble getting on the Rhode Island presidential primary ballot. The law requires 1,000 signatures between January 19 and February 2. The Rhode Island Republican Party is considering the idea of circulating a petition on behalf of each of the candidates it recognizes as legitimate. Any registered voter may sign, but the signatures must be collected in winter weather.

Rhode Island once placed presidential primary candidates on the ballot automatically if they were discussed in the news media. However, that old law was enjoined by a U.S. District Court in 1992. That case, Duke v Connell, 790 F.Supp. 50, was won by David Duke, who had been barred from the Republican presidential primary on the grounds that the major news media didn’t discuss his candidacy for the Republican nomination. The judge felt the law is too vague. These “media” laws are common around the country, and have been upheld in many other states, although the Kentucky “media” law was also invalidated. Because of the David Duke decision, the Rhode Island legislature started requiring 1,000 signatures for presidential primary candidates. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.