On August 1, Bill Van Allen filed his appeal brief in the 2nd circuit, in Van Allen v Cuomo, 07-3118. This is the lawsuit that challenges New York’s unique law that when a registered voter changes his or her registration to join a party, the change does not take effect until the following year. Yet, if someone who is not registered to vote newly registers, that person is permitted to join a party and have that membership take effect immediately. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law last month. The case is being expedited, since Van Allen seeks to vote in the September 2007 primary of the party he joined, which is the Independence Party.