On September 24, U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman refused to order Michigan to let David Swartout have the label “independent” on the November ballot. Swartout is an independent candidate for U.S. House, but state law forces him to have the label “No party affiliation” instead of “independent.” Swartout v Johnson, eastern district, 2:14cv-12768.

It would have been surprising if Swartout had received injunctive relief, because Michigan has already printed its ballots. So far, Swartout hasn’t presented evidence that he is harmed, but it may still be possible for him to introduce such evidence. A study conducted by Ballot Access News, and printed in the August 1, 2013 issue, shows that independent candidates in 2012 who were in two-candidate races, and who had the label “independent” polled an average vote of 33.23%. But independent candidates in 2012 in two-candidate races who had less appealing labels polled an average of 30.21%. Similarly, the median showing for independent candidates with “independent” was 31.94%, but the median for independents without that label was only 28.79%. The study covered all 106 independent candidates for federal and state office who ran in 2012 in two-candidate races.