The Tennessee Elections Coordinator has been in the process of revising the petition form for independent candidates. State law says any independent candidate (for any office) needs 25 signatures. In the past, an independent candidate could get on the ballot with only a single candidate for presidential elector. In 2004 the state re-interpreted the law to say that a presidential candidate must have a full slate of presidential electors, so that meant eleven different petitions, but each could be signed by the same 25 voters.

Last month, the state re-interpreted the law again, and said independent presidential candidates need a petition bearing the names of all eleven elector candidates, and that that petition needed 275 names. At this point, the law still seemed fair. But now, the state is insisting that only a single petition form (which would be stapled at the top, and have approximately 10 sheets of paper fastened together) may be circulated. No photocopies would be allowed. The state would simply give a single petition (with sheets of paper fastened together) to the petitioning group.

This would be wildly impractical, since that single petition would need to be signed by each of the eleven candidates for presidential elector, nine of whom must each live in a different US House district. It would also be impractical because it would prevent more than a single volunteer from ever working at any given moment. Tennessee state elections officials are still stuck in the mind-set of their normal procedure, under which a petition only needs 25 signatures. The Socialist Party, which has been doing a good job of gathering this information, is still negotiating with the state.

This Newsday story, published May 31, says that U.S. Senator John McCain met briefly with the state chair of the Independence Party of New York, Frank MacKay. The story hints that McCain is seeking the Independence Party’s nomination. The story says that only 7 states allow fusion, but for president this is not true. Approximately half the states allow fusion for president. It is impossible to say an exact number of states, because it depends on whether one is talking about fusion between two qualified parties, or fusion between a qualified party and an unqualified party, or fusion involving a party and an independent candidate.

The New York Independence Party in the past has always supported a minor party or independent presidential candidate. It nominated Ross Perot in 1996, John Hagelin in 2000, and Ralph Nader in 2004.

On May 23, the Georgia Democratic Party filed a new lawsuit against that state’s law requiring voters at the polls to show a government photo-ID. The suit depends on the Georgia Constitution, which sets forth the requirements for anyone to vote. The Constitution just sets age, citizenship and residency requirements. The lawsuit charges that an ordinary statute that adds to those qualifications violates the State Constitution. Democratic Party of Georgia v Perdue, Superior Court, Fulton Co., 2008-cv-151081. Thanks to Ed Still’s VoteLaw blog for this news.

The original law had been declared unconstitutional by a federal court several years ago. The legislature had then amended the law so the state ID is free. Then, the federal court had upheld the new law. The new lawsuit, depending on the state constitution, does not include any plaintiffs except the Georgia Democratic Party itself. The Georgia Secretary of State, Karen Handel, a Republican, seemed outraged by the new lawsuit. She said it is “extraordinarily outrageous and frivolous.”