The September 1, 2007 paper version of Ballot Access News will carry a story about the requirements for an independent candidate for U.S. House to get on the 2008 ballot. The requirements for each of the 435 districts have been calculated. The most severe requirement is in North Carolina’s 4th district, where an independent will need approximately 20,131 valid signatures. The North Carolina formula is 4% of the number of registered voters as of January 2008, so the precise requirement cannot be known now. The 20,131 figure is obtained by using the last known registration tally, and it won’t change much.

A lawsuit is being planned by an independent candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina. No independent candidate for U.S. House has ever qualified to appear on a government-printed ballot in North Carolina. North Carolina has used government-printed ballots since 1901.

Georgia’s statutory requirement is even worse. Georgia’s petition requirement is 5% of the number of registered voters. But, oddly, no district in Georgia in 2008 will require more than 20,070 signatures. The 5% independent petition for U.S. House was last used in Georgia in 1964, back when there were far fewer registered voters, and the petitions weren’t due until October of the election year, and they weren’t checked for validity.

On August 3, the Ohio Secretary of State ruled that the petition to place a new or previously unqualified party on the ballot may be circulated by any adult, regardless of where that person usually lives. This is welcome news. It also may make it easier for Ralph Nader to win his pending lawsuit in U.S. District Court on whether out-of-state circulators may circulate for an independent presidential candidate.

According to CNN Political Ticker, (scroll down about 4 items on CNN’s August 8 page) on August 9, the South Carolina Republican Party will announce that it is moving its presidential primary from February 2 to January 19. That would move the South Carolina Republican primary ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary (which is set for January 29).

It would also move the South Carolina Republican primary ahead of Florida (now set for January 29) and ahead of New Hampshire (now set for January 22).

South Carolina major parties administer their own presidential primaries, although the state reimburses them for the cost. That is why South Carolina presidential primaries for one party are not necessarily on the same day as the other major party’s primary. That is also why the primary dates can be moved around, even when the state legislature is not in session.