Next week, we see who file for local government offices up for election this year (and legislative spots that need filling). Next week is candidate filing time.

A few points of interest, as Secretary of State Sam Reed‘s office points out:

For the second time since the U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld the Top 2 Primary system adopted by citizen initiative in 2004, the Declaration of Candidacy form will allow candidates to self-describe their political preference, but this will not mean that the person is nominated by or supported by a party.

The form candidates submit will allow up to 16 characters to provide the name of the party a candidate prefers. Candidates cannot include profanity or imply or state that they are nominated or endorsed by a political party or that a party approves of or associates with them.

The regulations don’t rule out candidates trying to wedge in additional information about themselves, such as “Anti-war Dem” or “Pro-life G.O.P”, “Evans Republican” or “Jackson Democrat.” But Reed, the state’s chief elections officer, said he hopes candidates will simply list the actual name of a political party and not try to cram in personal or political information.