The initiative in Oklahoma to improve ballot access began circulating on September 14, and seems to have 2,000 signatures so far. The initiative must be completed within 90 days of the start day, so it must be finished by December 13, 2007. It needs 74,117 valid signatures. Donations may be sent to OBAR, PO Box 14042, Tulsa Ok 74159. The national Libertarian Party, and the national Green Party, are in the throes of deciding how much to donate to the initiative. Further large donations will be forthcoming if the fund-raising shows promise, so every donation counts. The more money is raised from individuals, the more money is likely to be raised from larger sources of revenue, so your donation will have a multiplier effect.

The Peace & Freedom Party of California has been holding a presidential primary ever since 1972. It didn’t hold a presidential primary in 1968, the first year it was on the ballot. It will be holding one again on February 5, 2008. California election practices (for minor party presidential primaries) involve the party’s state chair telling the Secretary of State which presidential candidates to list.

The Peace & Freedom Party State Executive Committee met on September 16, and set its list of presidential candidates. Six candidates are also seeking the nomination of the Socialist Party, which holds its presidential convention in St. Louis October 19-21, 2007. Most or all of these six will withdraw from the PFP primary if they don’t get the Socialist Party nomination. These six are: Stewart Alexander of Murrieta, California; Eric Thomas Chester of Montague, Massachusetts; Mary Alice Herbert of Putney, Vermont; Stanley Hetz of Smithfield, Pennsylvania; Brian Moore of Spring Hill, Florida; and Dwight Welch of Carbondale, Illinois. Candidates may withdraw until early November 2007.

The other three presidential candidates who will appear on the PFP primary, unless they withdraw, are John Crockford of Fresno, California; Gloria LaRiva of San Francisco; and Ralph Nader.

Candidates need not formally declare their candidacy to appear on the California presidential primary. The legal criteria is that they have been mentioned in media as potential candidates for the party. Since the media don’t cover minor parties very well, the custom for the California Secretary of State has been to simply let the party leadership tell her which candidates to list.

Massachusetts is the only state that mandates that an incumbent running for re-election should always be listed first on the ballot. A lawsuit challenging that law, filed in 2004, is finally moving ahead. The case is White v Galvin, Plymouth Co. Superior Court, 04-0427. On August 6, 2007, the court denied the government’s attempt to have the case dismissed as moot. A pre-trial conference will be held September 25, 2007.