On Thursday, March 4, two different courts will hear oral argument in two important election law cases:

1. The Indiana Supreme Court will hear League of Women Voters of Indiana v Rokita, the case that asks whether the law requiring photo voter-ID for almost all voters at the polls violates the State Constitution’s equal protection clause.

2. The 11th circuit, in Atlanta, Georgia, will hear Coffield v Handel, over whether the state’s requirement for independent and minor party candidates for U.S. House to get on the ballot violates the U.S. Constitution. The law is so strict, it has not been used since 1964, and it was actually considerably easier in 1964 than it is today. Since 1964, the petition deadline has been moved from October to July; notarization of each petition was not then required, but today it is; back in 1964 the petitions were not checked but were deemed to be valid, but today they are checked; back in 1964 no Georgia county was split by a congressional district boundary, but today many of the counties are split, making it tougher to know which voters on the street are eligible to sign.