Texas has a uniquely restrictive law for independent candidates (for office other than president). It requires them to file a notice in early January, if they intend to petition for a place on the ballot. Petitioning itself can’t start in Texas until after the primary, but anyone who didn’t file the January notice has already given up the chance to try to circulate a petition later in the year.

In 17 of Texas’ 32 U.S. House districts, at least one independent candidate filed the form. Here is the list. For statewide state offices, there are no independents except two for Governor, Stephen McGee and Kevin Sill.

Texas also requires an unqualified party to file a notice by the same early date, if it intends to try to petition for a place on the ballot later in the year. Four parties filed the notice: Constitution, Green, Reform, and Socialist. The Texas petition to qualify a new party also can’t start to circulate until after the March primary. It requires 43,991 signatures. Independent candidates for statewide office also need that number of signatures in 2010. But independent candidates for U.S. House only need 500 signatures.

The Constitution Party has only once successfully petitioned for the Texas ballot, in 1996. The Green Party also completed the petition just once in its history, in 2000. The Reform Party has never appeared on the statewide ballot in Texas (Ross Perot in both 1992 and 1996 petitioned as an independent, and Pat Buchanan in 2000 also petitioned as an independent). The Socialist Party has never completed the Texas petition. Before 1967, Texas did not require any petition for a new party to get on the ballot. Before 1967, any party that held a state convention, and county conventions in any 20 counties, was put on the ballot. Texas never had a ballot that was crowded with too many parties. The highest number of statewide parties ever in Texas history was six parties, and that includes the Democratic and Republican Parties.

The 11th circuit will hear Coffield v Handel on Thursday, March 4, at 9 a.m. This is the case that challenges Georgia’s ballot access law for independent and minor party candidates for U.S. House, in regular elections. The law is so severe, no one has completed the petition (5% of the number of registered voters) since 1964. Back in 1964, the signatures were not due until October, and did not need to be notarized, and district boundaries didn’t split up counties. So, petitioning was much easier back in 1964, and signatures weren’t even checked.

The plaintiff-candidate, Faye Coffield, tried to get on the 2008 ballot but failed. As a result, the voters in her district, the 4th district, saw a November ballot with only one candidate, the incumbent, Hank Johnson. The 4th district includes most of DeKalb County and part of Gwinnett County.

In 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Georgia ballot access laws, but the Court noted that the 5% petition had been used for statewide candidates in both 1966 and 1968, so the Court felt that 5% petitions can’t be that difficult. Oddly enough, the U.S. Supreme Court has never had a case challenging the petition requirements for candidates for the U.S. House. There were two co-plaintiffs running for U.S. House in the 1971 case, but no evidence was submitted in the 1971 case about the difficulties of petitioning in a district. The plaintiffs in the 1971 case, members and candidates of the Socialist Workers Party, had argued that any petition requirement was unconstitutional, so they didn’t present any evidence about petitioning and they hadn’t tried to petition. The 1971 case was called Jenness v Fortson.