On October 10, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Martin v Moore, 17-156. This is the case in which the Eighth Circuit had said the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidate petitions is too early, unless the state of Arkansas can demonstrate that the deadline is essential for the state to have enough time to check the validity of such petitions.
Arkansas state officials had then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Eighth Circuit, and uphold the March petition deadline. Arkansas’ main argument in the U.S. Supreme Court had been that the plaintiff-candidate, Mark Moore, had not tried to petition and therefore he doesn’t have standing.
It will be interesting to see if the state now returns to the U.S. District Court and tries to prove that it can’t check the signatures unless they are submitted by March, or whether the state just gives up on the case. The Arkansas legislature is not in session but it will be in January 2018.
If the March dead line is NOT the same for all candidates for the same office in the same area, then the case is one more perversion of 14 Amdt, EP Cl.
Oh it’s not. The filing deadline is almost the same but since the independent now has to show up on that day with all signatures in hand the practical effect is that ONLY Republicans and Democrats can make up their minds late to file for office. The independent has to decide early and then collect signatures in the dead of Winter. The primaries are not till May 29th so even the old May 1 deadline for turning in signatures was unfair, but not unfair enough for the establishment!