Límite Halloween

El 31 de octubre es la fecha límite para los nuevos candidatos que quieran competir en Florida. Naturalmente, pueden renunciar a hacerlo e inscribirse dos semanas más tarde en New Hampshire o hacerlo cuando les apetezca en Iowa. Incluso esperar hasta el año nuevo como se hacía antiguamente e inscribirse en grandes estados como NY, California, Ohio o Pennsylvania, pero no sería realista.

CNN:

Possible presidential hopefuls like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may have more on their minds than trick-or-treaters and costumes this Halloween.

The date usually associated with candy-seeking children this year also marks the deadline to file to get on the Florida Republican primary ballot, likely to be held on January 31, 2012. It is the first of many deadlines candidates must meet in order to appear on the ballots in various state presidential primary contests.

The filing deadline for South Carolina's GOP primary is the following day, November 1. Other states with November filing deadlines include Michigan and Missouri, which require candidates to file paperwork by the 15th and the 22nd respectively.

In New Hampshire, state law says that the filing period ends the third Friday in November, which is the 18th, but Secretary of State William Gardner has the authority to change the filing period to accommodate an earlier primary date. The Granite State was tentatively scheduled to hold its primary in February, but will likely hold its contest in January to defend its first-in-the-nation status.

December marks at least three state filing deadlines: Tennessee (the 6th), Oklahoma (the 7th), and Texas (the 12th), all of which will hold primaries on March 6, 2012, also known as Super Tuesday.

At least two other Super Tuesday states have filing deadlines in early 2012. Massachusetts has a January 6 deadline while Vermont's deadline is January 9.

Arizona, which recently moved its presidential primary to February 28, also has a January 9 candidate filing deadline.

Caucuses, which are run by state parties, do not have the same rigid filing procedures as primaries, which are usually run by the state. The Iowa Republican caucuses, for example, have no official candidate filing deadline.