The Fort Worth, Texas daily newspaper, the Star-Telegram, has this story about all the unqualified parties that have told the Texas Secretary of State that they intend to petition during 2012.
The story says the petition deadline is in May, but that is not accurate. Texas election law says the minor party petition is due 75 days after the primary. When Texas moved its primary this year, that automatically made the petitions for a new party due on June 17.
The story is also misleading when it implies that the party that would nominate Donald Trump (if he decides to run) can’t start petitioning until Trump is free to declare a possible presidential candidacy. It is true that because of the Equal Time law, Donald Trump can’t declare as a presidential candidate until his television show goes off the air in early June. But the proposed political party that would nominate Trump, the Make America Great Party, is free to petition in Texas as soon as the primary is over in April. The petition to create a new party doesn’t list any nominees for President or any office, so there would be no official connection between the Make America Great Party and Trump himself.
The court order changing the primary date pretty much ignores convention-nominating parties (the Republican and Democratic parties got together and wrote the court order, and the judges signed it).
Except in appellate cases the judge generally does not write the order.
Generally (but not necessarily always) the judge has the winning party’s lawyer submit a proposed order and findings of fact. The losing party can file an objection to them asking for inclusion of specific items s/he wants.
The judge then signs whatever s/he feels is appropriate based on the submission and objections. If changes need to be made the party winning the debate over what was submitted drafts the changes.
It is not unusual for the parties to agree to terms to be submitted in order to eliminate delays and additional expenses.
#2 In this instance the Republican Party of Texas is not a party to the litigation, nor are the minor political parties.
In Texas, the political parties conduct their own primaries and conventions, based on a schedule set by state law. Changes to that schedule have an impact on all political parties, but only the Republicans and Democratic parties were consulted.
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