An Alabama state court is currently processing a lawsuit over whether Alabama’s Governor must call a special U.S. Senate election this year. The vacancy exists because U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions resigned to become Attorney General. The Governor does not want a special election for that seat until November 2018, but he is being sued, because the law says special elections must be called “forthwith” if the vacancy occurs more than four months before the seat would have been up anyway.

In the latest brief filed by the Governor, he says there should be no special election this year because last year, a U.S. District Court struck down the petition requirement for independent candidates in special elections. See this story. The case is Zeigler v Bentley, Montgomery Circuit Court, cv2017-900338.

The obvious rebuttal to the Governor’s point is that the state is free to lower the number of signatures for an independent candidate in special elections, as an alternative to greatly expanding the time allowed for an independent to gather 35,413 valid signatures. The case last year was Hall v Merrill, U.S. District Court, m.d., 2:13cv-663. The state is appealing that decision.