As previously noted, on March 14, a U.S. District Court ruled that Tennessee’s law that disqualifies a party from the ballot after just one election, if it fails the 5% vote test, is unconstitutional. The basis is Equal Protection, because parties that meet the vote test are then ballot-qualified for the next two elections.

Here is a newspaper story about the decision, in the Johnson City Press.

Meanwhile, committees in both houses of the Tennessee legislature had been expected to hold hearings on the bill lowering the statewide petition for newly-qualifying parties from 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote (slightly over 40,000 signatures) to exactly 2,500 signatures. But both committees have put over the hearing until March 25.