On September 24, James Hall, an independent candidate for U.S. House in Alabama’s upcoming special election, First District, submitted 2,835 signatures. The petition deadline is September 24. The requirement is 5,938 valid signatures. Hall has a lawsuit pending, arguing that because the time for collecting signatures in this special election is so much shorter than in a regular election, therefore the state would reduce the petition requirement. He is citing several precedents that support his claim, including one from the Eleventh Circuit in 1982 called Citizens Party of Georgia v Poythress (Alabama is in the Eleventh Circuit). In that 1982 Georgia case, the normal petitioning period of 180 days was curtailed to only 50 days by late redistricting, so the Eleventh Circuit remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court and told the U.S. District Court to give some relief. The U.S. District Court then extended the deadline. Other courts in similar circumstances have reduced the number of signatures, to compensate for the shorter period for collecting signatures.