On November 18, Ohio will hold a special U.S. House election in the 11th district, to fill the vacancy caused by the death earlier this year of Stephanie Tubbs Jones. The ballot in the special election will contain only one name, that of Democratic nominee Marcia Fudge.

One independent candidate submitted a petition to be on the ballot in that election. He is James Germalic. The law required him to submit 750 valid signatures by October 13. He submitted 1,385 signatures, but he was told that only 487 of his signatures were valid. Ohio consistently has the lowest petition validity of any state in the nation. Germalic says his circulators were careful to avoid obtaining signatures from people who don’t live in the district. The biggest problem seemed to be that so many voters have moved since they last registered to vote. They sign the petition showing their current address, but that address doesn’t match the voter registration records, and the signature is then invalid.

The New York Times, October 16, has a medium-sized article about the Free & Equal Presidential Debate set for October 19. The title of the article, which is at the top of page A20, is “A Third-Party Forum.” Most surprisingly, the article includes photos of each of the four invited presidential candidates. They are, of course, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, and Chuck Baldwin. This is surely the first time the New York Times has ever run a picture of a Constitution Party presidential nominee.

The ballot-qualified Minnesota Independence Party does not have a presidential nominee. But it is interested in making an endorsement in the presidential race. Therefore, it has scheduled an endorsement convention for 12:30 p.m. Saturday, October 25, at Eastview High School Auditorium, Apple Valley, Minnesota. The seven presidential candidates, or their representatives, who are on the ballot in Minnesota are invited to appear. The seven candidates on the ballot are the six who are on the ballot in states containing a majority of the electoral college, and also Roger Calero of the Socialist Workers Party. Thanks to Gene Berkman for this news.