On August 7 or August 8, Ralph Nader will bring a lawsuit against the Idaho Secretary of State, to win the ability to use petition circulators who are not permanent residents of Idaho. Idaho is one of five states in which Ralph Nader has never appeared on the ballot. It requires 5,984 valid signatures for an independent presidential candidate. Nader’s 2004 petition was found not to have enough valid signatures. For some reason, Idaho petitions are always judged to have a low validity rate, even though a very high percentage of Idaho residents are registered to vote.

The Idaho petition deadline for an independent presidential candidate is August 25. The lawsuit will be based on Nader’s July 9 victory against Arizona’s ban on out-of-state circulators. That decision was from the 9th circuit, so it should control the outcome in Idaho, since both states are in the 9th circuit. Idaho, California and Arizona had been the only states in the 9th circuit that prohibit out-of-state circulators.

Five of the six candidates who want to run for Palm Beach, Florida School Board, district one, trusted the Elections Department and wrote filing fee checks for $1635.40, which the Department said was the correct amount. However, the true amount was $1635.48. One candidate paid the right amount and he tells the press he may file a lawsuit to keep all his oppoonents off the ballot. See this story.

On August 4, Ralph Nader asked the Commonwealth Court to reconsider its order from 2006, that says he owes $81,000 to the people who challenged his 2004 petition. The request was made, based on the revelations of July 10, 2008, that the people who challenged his petition were illegally receiving state government resources.

Carl Romanelli, who was the 2006 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, had made a similar request for rehearing on July 15, 2008, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.