The Herald-Journal of Spartanburg, South Carolina, has this April 23 editorial, advocating that political parties ought to pay for their own primaries.

The editorial is factually misinformed when it suggests that the Communist Party and the National Socialist Party are ballot-qualified parties in South Carolina. Neither party has ever been on the ballot in South Carolina. Even before 1950, when all ballots in that state were printed privately, the Communist Party never had the organization in South Carolina to run candidates and print and distribute its own ballots, not even for presidential elector.

Last week, both sides in the Montana ballot access case filed their briefs. Kelly v McCulloch, cv-08-25-BU, challenges the March petition deadline for independent candidates (for office other than president). The deadline had been in June, until 2007, when the legislature moved it to March. Here is the brief of the ACLU. Here is the state’s brief. The ACLU brief is 34 pages long, but has almost 100 pages of exhibits in addition.

Alternet on May 2 posted this first-person account of the March 21, 2009 bus tour of wealthy business executives’ homes in Connecticut, sponsored by the Connecticut Working Families Party. Mark Ames wrote the piece, and he is a very good writer. His title is, “What Happens When Angry Citizens Crash the Gates of America’s CEO Class?” The subtitle is, “They chicken out at the last minute. Recounting the doomed bus tour of AIG executives’ posh homes in Connecticut.”