By a strange coincidence, two pending ballot access cases in the Eleventh Circuit recently hit procedural bumps, but the Court has cleared these away, and the two cases will proceed.

In Georgia, the Attorney General had somehow missed an October deadline to file a response brief, but on October 29 the 11th circuit excused this error and let the state’s brief be filed late. That occurred in Coffield v Handel, the lawsuit challenging the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate for U.S. House.

In Alabama, the attorney for an independent candidate had missed an October deadline to file relevant extracts from the U.S. District Court record, but on November 6 the 11th circuit excused that error as well. That occurred in Shugart v Chapman, the lawsuit challenging the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate for U.S. House.