Although the Reform Party only has statewide candidates in two states this year (Florida and Kansas), it has candidates for the U.S. House, or for the state legislature, in additional states, specifically Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Mississippi.

In California, the latest registration tally shows 32,402 registered Reform Party members. The party has been off the ballot in California since 2002. Usually when a party goes off the ballot, its registration declines fairly rapidly. However, Reform Party registration in California is holding up; on January 3, 2006, it had 33,795 members.

On October 6, the Ohio Attorney General’s office informed counsel for the Ohio Libertarian Party that the state will not ask for a rehearing after all, in the ballot access victory won on September 6. However, he said Ohio will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn that ballot access victory.

Assuming the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t take Ohio’s appeal, then the Ohio legislature will be required to ease the ballot access rules in 2007. Also a proposed lawsuit against the Tennessee ballot access law for new parties will almost certainly win, since Tennessee is also in the 6th circuit.

If the U.S. Supreme Court does take Ohio’s appeal, that would be the first ballot access case that court will have heard since 1992.

On Oct. 4, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2946, which would have made it illegal to pay initiative circulators per signature. He also vetoed SB 1598, which would have required that each initiative petition sheet say whether the circulator is being paid or not.