Indonesia holds presidential elections, but does not permit independent presidential candidates. According to this news story, a lawsuit is currently pending in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court, over whether the ban on independent presidential candidates violates the Constitution.

In the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that the Constitution requires states to provide for ballot access for independent candidates. At the time, 12 states made it impossible for anyone to be an independent presidential candidate, but those bans were all removed after the 1974 decision, which was called Storer v Brown.

The National Popular Vote Plan bill has a hearing in the Maine joint Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday, January 28, at 1 pm in Room 437 of the State House. The bill is LD 56.

On January 22, the Federal Election Commission raised the limits on how much money individuals may contribute to candidates for federal office, and to national party committees. The limit on a contribution to a candidate had been $2,300 in 2008, but now it is $2,400. The limit on how much an individual can contribute to a national political party has been raised from $28,500 to $30,400. The FEC is empowered to increase these limits for inflation.