Al Hein is one of two independent candidates on the ballot for Minnesota State House of Representatives this year.  After he was certified for the ballot, someone noticed that the county clerk had not asked him to submit the legally required petition of 500 signatures.  Now Hein himself has asked that the Minnesota Supreme Court determine whether or not his candidacy is legal.  See this story.

In 2009, the Nebraska legislature passed a law requiring petitions to say in red letters whether the circulator is being paid or is volunteering.  On September 24, a state court put an independent candidate on the ballot, even though the petition lacked that language.  See this story.  The candidate, an independent candidate running for Saunders County Attorney, had submitted an awesome 3,150 signatures, an amazing feat in a county that has a population of only 19,830.  The judge said disqualifying the petition would have disenfranchised the voters, because if Cook had not been able to get on the ballot, only one candidate, the incumbent Republican, would have appeared on the ballot.

The constitutionality of the law, requiring the petition to say if the circulator is paid or not, is currently being litigated in U.S. District Court in Nebraska.