The Third Circuit will hear the Carl Lewis ballot access case on Tuesday, September 13. The case is Lewis v Guadagno, 11-3401.
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On September 8, the Missouri House Elections Committee passed HB 3, which moves the presidential primary from early February to early March. The bill also increases the filing fee for candidates who wish to run in a presidential primary from $1,000 to $5,000. And after 2012, that fee would rise to $10,000.
The filing fee change does not affect the ability of any qualified party to place its presidential nominee on the November ballot. There is no fee for that in Missouri or any state. But what the increased filing fee does mean (assuming the bill is signed into law) is that minor parties are very likely not to use their presidential primary, because it isn’t likely that any minor party presidential candidate will think it worthwhile to pay such a high fee just to run in his or her own party’s Missouri presidential primary. Generally, presidential primaries for minor parties are not binding anyway.
The Missouri election law will continue to have a petition in-lieu of filing fee for presidential primary candidates, which will continue to be 5,000 signatures. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the news about the bill moving forward.
Candidate filing for Louisiana’s statewide election has closed. Ten candidates are running for Governor: one Republican, four Democrats, one Libertarian, and four independents.
For Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer, only Republicans filed. For Agriculture & Forestry Commissioner, there is one Republican, one Democrat, and one Reform Party member running. For Insurance Commissioner there is one Republican and one Democrat.
Several Republican Party officials in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit in state court to remove the Libertarian Party nominee for State Treasurer from the ballot. See this story. They charge that he does not have 5,000 valid signatures. The state has already certified him for the ballot.
Bill Clutter, a private investigator in Springfield, Illinois, is launching an initiative to change the Illinois open primary, from one in which primary voters must ask for one particular party’s primary ballot, to one in which primary voters in the secrecy of the voting booth choose one party’s primary ballot. States with secret open primaries include Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Here is the initiative petition. In states with secret open primaries, the voter is limited to voting in only one party’s primary. Thanks to Nancy Hanks for the link.