Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut’s Secretary of State, said on August 10 that she will ask the Connecticut legislature next year to pass a law making it illegal for anyone who runs in a primary and loses, from then being an independent candidate.

The Green Party statewide petition in Pennsylvania contains the names of the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidates. The gubernatorial candidate, Marakay Rogers, will withdraw her connection with the statewide petition on August 11. If the pending ballot access case wins, she will be a candidate; but if it does not win, she will have withdrawn.

The petition challenge procedure in Pennsylvania is unlike that in any other state. If a candidate whose petition is challenged does not withdraw, and the procedure ends up showing that the petition didn’t have enough signatures, the candidate is liable for the costs of the challenge. In 2004, Ralph Nader submitted twice as many signatures as were required in Pennsylvania, but the challenge process determined that he didn’t have enough valid signatures. As a result, he was required by the Commonwealth Court to pay $85,000. He filed an appeal of that determination, which has been pending in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for months.

Louisiana has not had any minor party nominees for Congress on the ballot, with the party label, since 1972. But this year, under the newly liberalized law passed in 2004, Libertarian candidates for Congress will be on the ballot with the party label in 5 of the state’s 7 U.S. House districts. The Green and Reform Parties are also ballot-qualified in Louisiana, but they don’t have any candidates for Congress this year in that state.