By Richard Winger On August 25, U.S. District Court Judge James M. Moody, Jr., upheld the March 3 petition deadline that was in effect in Arkansas in 2014 (and will be again in 2018, under current law), for non-presidential independent candidate petitions. He said the deadline is needed to give the state time to check the petitions. Of course, independent candidates go directly onto the November ballot, which is not printed until September. The decision is Moore v Martin, 4:14cv-65, eastern district. In 2014, the primary was in late May, which meant that independent candidates had to qualify more …read more