A U.S. District Court judge will hear Libertarian National Committee v Libertarian Party of New Mexico, 1:26cv-1562, on Monday, June 15, at 1:30 p.m. It is a zoom hearing.
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On June 12, New Jersey Secretary of State removed an independent candidate for U.S. House from the ballot even though the candidate had won before an Administrative Law Judge earlier. The candidate, Vincent Matrisciano, had prepared his own blank petition forms instead of using the forms provided by the Secretary of State. See this story. The home-made petition omitted language that said the signer supports the candidate named on the petition. Ironically, that type of language has been declared unconstitutional in decisions some other states, including Kentucky, Michigan, and West Virginia.
The Alaska Division of Elections says it may keep Daniel J. Sullivan off the August 18 primary ballot, but it hasn’t explained why. See this story. The incumbent Republican U.S. Senator has the same first and last name, but a different middle initial.
On June 11, a Kansas state trial court said that the lawsuit Miller v Schwab, Shawnee County District Court 5N2026cv-510, was filed prematurly. The judge said the lawsuit should have been filed after the Kansas Board of Objections had ruled on the issue. The Board of Objections will decide on Friday, June 12.
The issue is whether the Secretary of State was empowered to declare that the 2024 officers of the No Labels Party, rather than the 2026 officers, have the authority to make decisions for the party. The 2024 officers want to dissolve the party. The 2026 officers, who were chosen at a party meeting earlier this year, want it to carry on and run candidates for office this year. See this story.
On May 15, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed HB 3557. It says that candidates nominated in conventions must pay filing fees. The fee is 1% of the office’s salary. However, the law says the money goes to that candidate’s party. The money does not go to the state treasury.
Before the bill passed, only primary candidates needed to pay a filing fee. Fees for convention candidates are not logical. The purpose of filing fees is to keep ballots uncrowded. However, when a party nominates by convention, there is no problem with crowded primary ballots.
South Carolina still does not require independent candidates to pay a filing fee.