On February 5, this 17-page brief was filed in U.S. District Court in Hall v Bennett, m.d., 2:13cv-663. This is the lawsuit over whether Alabama can require independent candidates in special elections to submit signatures equal to 3% of the last vote cast. The lawsuit does not contest the legitimacy of the 3% petition in regular elections, but argues that the petitioning period in special elections is so much shorter than in regular elections, the normal petition requirement must be eased in special elections.

At the oral argument in November 2014, the judge asked both sides whether it is true that all special congressional elections have a short petitioning period. In response, the plaintiffs showed that it was much shorter in each of the last five special congressional elections held in Alabama. The state then filed a response, criticizing the plaintiffs for only providing data for 5 special elections, when there have been 18 special congressional elections in Alabama history since government-printed ballots have been in use. The latest brief by plaintiffs therefore did research all the way back to 1904 to demonstrate that, yes, all special Alabama congressional elections always have a short period between the creation of the vacancy and the date of the special election. This should be an obvious point, but it has now been documented.