On February 12, Pennsylvania’s Governor issued an order, extending the filing period for candidates seeking a place on Democratic and Republican primary ballots, from 5 p.m. on Tuesday (February 12), to noon on Thursday (February 14). The reason was that wintery weather had slowed down transportation.

Notwithstanding the extension, the only five presidential candidates who had been expected to file a petition, did so. They are Hillary Clinton and Barack in the Democratic primary; and Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Ron Paul in the Republican primary. Each needed 2,000 signatures of party members, plus additional petitions to qualify candidates for Delegate in various U.S. House districts.

The North Carolina Libertarian Party has taken years to finish its petition for 2008, but the signature gathering is complete. As soon as the signatures are sorted out properly, they will be submitted. Almost 100,000 signatures were collected; the legal requirement is 69,734.

The February 12 issue of the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch (that city’s major daily newspaper) carries this op-ed by Capital University Law Professor Mark R. Brown. Thanks to Steven Linnabary for the link.