On March 24, South Carolina House Bill 3720 was signed into law. It provides for Instant-Runoff Voting in primaries, for overseas absentee voters. Louisiana and Arkansas already have similar laws. Run-off primaries (which exist only in the south) are a problem for overseas absentee voters, since mail service to many overseas locations doesn’t permit ballots for the run-off primary to reach them in time. So, these 3 states have chosen to use Instant-Runoff Voting, so that overseas absentee voters only need to vote once, combining the first primary with the run-off simultaneously.

At least two state parties held nominating conventions on March 26. The Nevada Green Party nominated Craig Bergland for Governor.

The Florida Libertarian Party decided not to nominate any candidates for statewide office, and none for U.S. House, but it nominated for two state legislative districts.

Some Florida Libertarians wanted to nominate the ticket of John Wayne Smith for Governor, and James Kearney for Lieutenant Governor, but a majority of delegates preferred to have no candidates for these offices. However, there is another qualified party in Florida called the American Libertarian Party, and it is likely that the American Libertarian Party will nominate these candidates. If so, Smith will be the first minor party nominee for Governor to be on the Florida ballot since 1920. Florida had an independent candidate for Governor in 2002, but has not had a third party nominee on the ballot in 85 years. The Socialist Party nominee for Governor appeared on the ballot in 1920.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg of California sued the California Secretary of State on March 20. Umberg charges that the Secretary of State should not have placed J. Luis Correa on the Democratic primary ballot, as an opponent to Umberg (both are running for State Senate). Umberg says Correa turned in too many signatures. The law says a candidate seeking a place on a primary ballot (for district office) needs 40 signatures, and that no one may turn in more than 60 signatures. Correa turned in 101 signatures. The case is Umberg v McPherson,06-406, Superior Court, Sacramento, and will be heard March 28.

This case will test whether the recent California Supreme Court opinion Costa v Superior Court applies to candidate petitions as well as initiative petitions. The Costa case set forth a “substantial compliance” rule for initiative petitions (see the March 1, 2006 Ballot Access News for more about the Costa opinion).