On November 16, the federal government refused New York state’s request for a 2012 waiver from the 2009 federal law that requires states to mail overseas absentee ballots at least 45 days before any federal primary or federal election. See this story. As a result, it seems very likely that a U.S. District Court will soon order New York state to move its non-presidential primary from September to August.

See this article by Steve Kornacki of Salon, about the possibility that Ron Paul could run for President in November outside the two major parties.

Ralph Nader has again called for more inclusive general election presidential debates. See this story. The case for more inclusive general election debates is stronger than ever, because the 8-candidate and 9-candidate Republican presidential debates this season have attracted so many viewers and so much commentary. These Republican debates are strong evidence that multi-candidate debates are useful

In the entire history of the United States, there has never been a general presidential election with more than 7 candidates who could theoretically have won the election. For a list of the presidential candidates in every general election 1856-2004 who were on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win the election, see here. “On the ballot” in the years before 1892 (in other words, in the years before there were government-printed ballots) means candidates who went to the trouble to nominate slates of presidential elector candidates, print up their names on privately-printed ballots, and distribute them to voters who wanted such a ballot, in states containing a majority of the electoral vote.

The link to the chart for 1856-2004 does not include 2008, but in 2008 there were six presidential candidates who were on the ballot in states with a majority of the electoral vote: Obama, McCain, Barr, Nader, Baldwin, and McKinney.