On February 22, a Vermont Superior Court denied the state’s motion to dismiss the case Trudell v Markowitz, which is pending in Washington County, 612-8-10-wn-cv. This is the case that challenges the June petition deadline for independent candidates. The plaintiff, Jerry Trudell, was an independent candidate last year for U.S. House, but he was unable to meet the deadline. Until 2010, the Vermont independent candidate petition deadline had been in September, but the 2010 session of the legislature made it drastically earlier than it had been. The Vermont primary (for office other than President) is in August.

Here is the decision. It says a trial is needed to settle the issue of whether the early deadline is needed for any important state purpose. The hearing will be sometime later than May 15.