See this story for information about a preliminary step the U.S. House has taken to raise congressional pay. Every time congressional pay rises, filing fees rise in many states that set the amount of the fee as a percentage of the office’s salary.
Here is an article from Axios:
https://www.axios.com/2023/07/12/no-labels-poll-third-party-manchin
The Federal Election Commission has released this compilation of presidential primary dates, and also congressional primary dates. There is always constant change of presidential primary dates during the odd year before a presidential election. Some dates still aren’t settled. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
The Libertarian Party Ballot Access Committee held a meeting on the evening of Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The LP currently has presidential ticket ballot access in 34 states and is seeking to place its 2024 presidential ticket on the ballot in as many states as possible.
Here is information on ongoing and upcoming petition drives:
Arkansas: 10,000 valid signatures needed by February 13, 2024. Currently the LPAR has 8,905 signatures, with a test validity rate of 79.1%, so there are an estimated 7,044 valid signatures collected to date.
North Dakota: 7,000 valid signatures needed by April 2024. The LPND petition drive is just starting. No firm numbers yet, other than the State Chair has 100. North Dakota is the only state without voter registration, so the signature validity rate is usually very high there.
Ohio: The LP will be pursuing an Independent presidential petition needing 5,000 valid signatures instead of a party petition that would require 40,345 valid signatures. Stand-in candidates are allowed on the petition, so the petition can start now. Almost all presidential electors have been selected, and the petition will start ASAP after that process is completed.
Kentucky: A 5,000 valid signature petition drive will likely start in November 2023, with a deadline of early September 2024.
On July 11, a state trial court heard Arizona Democratic Party v No Labels, Maricopa County Superior Court cv2023-004832. But there seem to be no news stories about the oral argument. The matter is before Judge Katherine Cooper. If any reader was in the audience, or has heard how the hearing went, please comment.
This is the case in which the Arizona Democratic Party argues the Secretary of state should not have put No Labels Party on the ballot. Arizona law requires ten people who represent a new party to file affidavits. Always before, these affidavits are submitted before the petition drive starts, or during the petition. But the Democratic Party says the affidavits were submitted too early and should not have been submitted until the petition was complete. The Democratic Party does not contest the fact that the party submitted enough valid signatures.
