The American Independent Party of California primary ballot in 2010 will probably list two candidates for Governor, Chelene Nightingale and Markham Robinson. The AIP has not had a contested gubernatorial primary in California since 1990, when Jerome McCready and Chuck Morsa each ran. McCready won the 1990 primary, 54%-46%.

Nightingale is part of the faction that is associated with the Constitution Party nationally. Robinson is part of the faction that supported Alan Keyes for president in 2008, even after Keyes failed to get the Constitution Party’s presidential nomination and then set up his own party, called America’s Independent Party.

On February 1, the trial began in Pennsylvania, in the criminal case filed by the Attorney General against some employees of the state legislature. They are charged with using state resources to work on partisan campaigns, including the challenge to Ralph Nader’s 2004 petition, and the 2006 Green Party statewide petition. See this story.

On September 1, a New Jersey Superior Court issued a lengthy opinion, upholding the use of vote-counting electronic machines that have no paper trail. Gusciora v Corzine, L-2691-04, Mercer County. The decision does require New Jersey elections officials to harden guidelines for anti-virus software, to prevent vote-counting computers from ever being connected to the internet, to improve seals on the machines, and to review procedures on preventing anyone from tampering with the machines while they are in storage or in transit.

New Jersey has already changed its law to require a paper trail, but the state hasn’t implemented the new law yet. Thanks to John Paff and John Carbone for this news.