On April 20, the three Montana candidates for Congress, in the May 25 special election, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put them on the ballot. They had sued to overturn state law that required them to collect over 14,000 valid signatures in three days. The U.S. District Court agreed that the law is probably invalid, and said 400 signatures should be enough. But the U.S. District Court wouldn’t give any of the three candidates time to collect those 400 signatures.
The Ninth Circuit, without comment, refused any relief. In the U.S. Supreme Court, the case is 16A-1008. It is before Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has jurisdiction over such appeals from the Ninth Circuit. Montana is in the Ninth Circuit.
I note with curiosity that the appellants brief does not cite U. S. Term Limits V. Thornton where the Supreme Court held that states cannot add nor subject qualifications for Constitutional offices such as U S Representative to appear on a state’s ballot. If a state petition or a filing fee requirement is not an added qualification, what is it?