The Portland Daily Sun (Maine) has this story on Americans Elect. It says the group has 24,000 signatures so far on its petition for recognition as a new party, and also says that Eliot Cutler, who was almost elected Governor as an independent in 2010, strongly backs the group. The Maine petition is one of the most difficult in the nation. Maine is the only state in which only independent voters, and voters who are members of that particular party, are permitted to sign the petition. It requires 28,639 valid signatures.

Any voter in Maine is already free to register as a member of Americans Elect on voter registration forms. Maine has other procedures for a group to become a qualified party. The method that is most commonly used is for a group to run a candidate for Governor or President, using the much easier independent petition. Then, if the group’s candidate gets at least 5% of the vote, that group becomes a qualified party. The Green Party used this method to obtain party status; it has never completed the difficult party petition. The party petition procedure has only existed since 1976, and was used only once before, by the Reform Party in 1995.

The Utah Foundation has just published a study of Utah’s unique primary system. Utah is the only state in which no one can get on a primary ballot for any non-presidential office unless the candidate has high support at a party nominating convention first. In Utah, if a candidate (for office other than President) doesn’t get at least 40% of the votes at the party’s pre-primary nominating convention, he or she can’t run in that party’s primary. See the Utah Foundation’s press release here. The press release has a link to the study. The Utah Foundation recommends that Utah provide easier access for candidates to run in party primaries.

Connecticut once had a system very similar to Utah’s current system, but a U.S. District Court declared it unconstitutional in Campbell v Bysiewicz, 242 F.Supp. 2d 164, in 2003. However, given the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision New York State Board of Elections v Lopez Torres, it is obvious that the Connecticut decision is no longer good law, and a lawsuit against the Utah system would not succeed, unless it was filed by a political party as applied to that party’s own nominating process.

On November 17, the Arizona Supreme Court took jurisdiction in the lawsuit filed by the Chair of the Redistricting Commission, Colleen Mathis, and simultaneously reinstated her. Governor Jan Brewer had removed her, after the commission issued new districts for U.S. House that Republicans felt weren’t favorable to them. The Arizona Redistricting Commission has five members: two Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent. Mathis is the independent member. Here is the 2-page court order. The case is Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission v Brewer, cv-11-0313. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link. Here is a news story, which includes the Governor’s reaction.