The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) has now raised virtually enough money to pay for preparation of the transcript in Trudell v Markowitz, the case challenging the Vermont June petition deadline for independent candidates. The appeal to the State Supreme Court can now proceed. Thanks to all who donated, especially the generous individual who gave $500, and also the half-dozen of you who gave $100.

June petition deadlines have been declared unconstitutionally early in Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, South Dakota, Massachusetts, and Kansas. In the Trudell case, the lower state court ignored all such precedents. Incredibly, the lower court even ignored the holding in Anderson v Celebrezze, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1983 that said early petition deadlines for independent candidates for President are unconstitutional. Instead, the lower court judge based his decision on Storer v Brown, a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision that did not even deal with the issue of early petition deadlines. The Storer decision has language saying there is no constitutional right for a candidate to enter a race late. The lower court opinion said that Storer v Brown had been issued in 1987, which of course makes it appear that Storer supercedes Anderson. Actually Storer v Brown came out in 1974.