The Tennessee Secretary of State has determined that the No Labels Party petition is valid in Tennessee. No Labels is the first party to have completed the petition since 1968, when the American Party did it. Even Americans Elect did not complete the Tennessee party petition. No Labels has been working on this petition for almost a year.
On March 12, the United Kansas Party submitted its petition to be recognized in Kansas. It exists only in Kansas. It is a centrist party that will probably file a lawsuit in state court this year to earn the ability to jointly nominate a candidate who is also a Democratic or Republican nominee. See this story. Thanks to Independent Political Report for this news.
Here is a news story that describes the ongoing trial today in the New Jersey ballot format case, Kim v Hanlon.
UPDATE: also see this later news story.
Russia held a presidential election March 15-17. The results: Vladimir Putin independent 88.48%; Communist Party 4.37%; New People Party 3.90%; Liberal Democratic 3.24%.
This wikipedia article has the results by region. In Chechnya, Putin received 98.99% of the vote.
On March 18, Geoff Duncan, the former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, said he will not seek the No Labels presidential nomination. Thanks to Eric Wong for this news.
On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Stein v Federal Election Commission, 23-771. The lower federal courts had refused to block the FEC from asking Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential nominee in 2016, for some of the funds back. The dispute involved the time period in which a presidential candidate seeking the nomination of several parties can raise private funds that get matched by the government. In the past, if a candidate was seeking the nomination of two parties, the period stopped when the later party decision was made. But in 2016, the FEC changed the rules and said the period ends once the first such political party makes a decision. Stein had been seeking both the Green Party nomination and the Peace & Freedom Party nomination. She now must repay the funds she raised after the Green Party presidential convention but before the Peace & Freedom presidential convention. It was a short period in August 2016, but she happened to have raised a large amount of money during that period.
She is seeking matching funds this year, in her quest for the 2024 Green nomination.