On July 29, the last brief was filed in the 9th circuit in the Montana ballot access case Kelly v McCulloch, 10-35174. The case challenges the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates, especially in the context of the high number of signatures Montana requires, 5% of the winning candidate’s vote. Ironically Montana requires more than twice as many signatures for a non-presidential statewide independent as for a new ballot-qualified party.
“standing does not require exercises in futility” Gotta love it!
SoS McCullough’s sleight of hand in creating the statistics about independent and “minor party” candidates should have been laughed out of the first court for the slapstick political buffoonery that it is.
D’ya think it was on purpose, or that she just doesn’t know there’s a legal definition of “minor party” in Montana?
Oops, sorry, I misspelled McCulloch.
The people in the Montana Attorney General’s office seem to have a ferocious desire to win at all costs. I have never seen a state file such briefs in a ballot access constitutional case. Attorneys General, Prosecutors, Law Enforcement personnel are supposed to first and foremost see that justice is done. That is a higher goal than winning every court case.