Georgia will probably not hold its special congressional election in the 10th district (to replace Charlie Norwood) until June 19. A previous posting on this site was incorrect when it said the election had to be no later than March 25.

The reason for the delay, is that several Georgia state legislators want to run for the seat, and under Georgia law, if they file as candidates, they must then resign from the legislature. Delaying the election until June 19 will enable these legislators to continue in office for most of this year’s legislative session.

On February 20, eight West Virginia legislators introduced HB 3144, to move the petition deadline for unqualified party and independent candidates from May to August. The presidential petition deadline is already in August, so the bill would change petition deadlines for office other than president to match the presidential petition deadline. The chief sponsor is Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, who is the wife of Law Professor Bob Bastress. Bastress has done virtually all of the ballot access litigation in West Virginia for 26 years, and has won many cases. He currently has a case pending in the State Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the May petition deadline.

The bill’s other Democratic sponsors are Alex Shook, Linda Longstreth, Bonnie Brown, Danny Wells, Barbara Hatfield, and John Doyle. The bill also has a Republican sponsor, Bill Hamilton.

Jerry Rafshoon and Doug Bailey, two founders of Unity08, answered questions on-line on February 16. Some of the most interesting questions and answers are these:

1. Question: what if the candidate we choose fares well and wins one of the major party primaries? Answer by Jerry Rafshoon: We will not be choosing our candidate until the other parties have anointed their candidate, which, as always, will happen early in the process. Therefore, it is doubtful that that candidate will try for our nomination. However, he or she is eligible to do so, but would have to choose a running mate who is not a member of his or her party.

2. Question: what about congressional candidates? Answer by Jerry Rafshoon: It is not our intention to field any candidate for Congress.

3. Question: can we get our nominee on the ballot of all states? Answer by Doug Bailey: It is doable. In some states it is remarkably doable. One reason is that third party candidates over the last 20 years have fought enough battles in the courts to lower the requirements in state after state.

To read the entire set of questions ans answers, go to www.unity08.com. The webpage also lists the organization’s Rules Committee, which is composed of these ten individuals: Co-chairs Carolyn Tieger and Thomas Collier; and members Michael Turk, Valerie Syme, Sayuri Matthews, David C. King, Dennis G. Johnson, Anna Friedinger, Will Fogal, and Peter Ackerman.