North Carolina is one of 13 states in which state income tax forms ask the taxpayer if the taxpayer wants to make a donation to a particular ballot-qualified party. In eleven of those states, all ballot-qualified parties are listed on the form. But in North Carolina and Ohio, there are extra qualifying rules, and only larger qualified parties are listed on the income tax form.

North Carolina law says only ballot-qualified parties that have registration of at least 1% may be on the state income tax form. No party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has ever had registration this high in North Carolina. Partly this is because the state revokes all of a party’s registrants when it goes off the ballot and converts them to independents.

However, in late 2008, when the tax returns for 2008 (to be filed in 2009) were being printed, someone in North Carolina government printed the Libertarian Party as a choice on the tax forms anyway, even though the party only had registration of .06%.

The Libertarian Party recently asked if the state would honor the wishes of taxpayers who had indicated on their tax forms that the party should receive a small donation. The state first said, “No”, but then changed its mind when someone found an Attorney General’s Opinion dated June 14, 1999, saying the when the state makes a mistake like this on its state income tax forms, it should honor the taxpayers’ wishes notwithstanding the law. The state says the party will receive a check in early August. Thanks to Barbara Howe for this news.

The Green Party is holding a national meeting in Durham, North Carolina, July 23-27. See this article in the Durham Herald-Sun about the meeting.

On July 23, the U.S. Senate, by a unanimous voice vote, attached the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act to the Defense Department Authorization Bill. The Voter amendment, which had been S.1415, is now Amendment 1764 to the Defense Department’s budget bill.

The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act requires states to mail overseas absentee ballots at least 45 days before an election. If the voter postmarks them by election day, they must be counted if they arrive no later than 10 days after the election. States are no longer authorized to require that such ballots be notarized. All of these provisions only relate to federal elections, under authority of Article One of the Constitution, which says that Congress can alter state election laws dealing with Congressional elections.