The Oklahoman has this story about bills in the Oklahoma legislature to move the primary from July to June. The story mentions that the filing deadline for individuals to file for the primary would move to April. However, the story does not mention that the bills also move the deadline for a party to qualify for the ballot from May 1 to March 1. The newspaper story title has a typo; obviously the newspaper meant to say “filing period”, not “failing period.”

Oklahoma legislators, and other Oklahomans who follow current affairs, seem unaware that early petition deadlines for new parties to qualify for the ballot are unconstitutional, especially when the state requires a very large number of signatures. In most states, newly-qualifying parties nominate by convention, not by primary, so states with early primaries are still able to have reasonable deadlines for parties to get on the ballot. Oklahoma is one of the states that insists that even newly-qualifying parties must nominate by primary.

The Egyptian Committee that has been suggesting new constitutional amendments has proposed changes in ballot access for presidential candidates. The suggestion is that a presidential candidate qualify for ballot access if he or she submits 30,000 signatures, with a certain number obtained from each of 15 provinces. Egypt has 29 provinces. Alternatively, a candidate can qualify if he or she is endorsed by at least 30 members of either house of the national legislature. A third method is that if a party has at least one member of the national parliament, it can place a presidential nominee on the ballot with no petition. See this story.

Egypt has an estimated population of 77,119,000.

On February 25, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Commissions, Elections & Legislation released the write-in results from the November 2, 2010 election. However, the information does not seem to be on the Bureau’s web page yet. It appears that eight counties did not tally any write-ins at all for any office. They are Clarion, Clinton, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mifflin, Montgomery, Perry, and Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania is the only large state that has no procedure for write-in candidates who want their vote tallied to file a declaration of write-in candidacy. All write-in votes are valid votes in Pennsylvania, and the state admits that the law requires that all write-ins be counted. The Pennsylvania Constitution protects write-in votes. In 1905, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said, “Unless there was such provision to enable the voter not satisfied to vote any ticket on the ballot, or for any names appearing on it, to make up an entire ticket of his own choice, the election as to him would not be equal, for he would not be able to express his own individual will in his own way.” Oughton v Black, 61 A. 346, at page 348.