On June 2, the Third Circuit issued a 31-page opinion in Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Cortes, 15-3046. It says that the U.S. District Court decision last year, invalidating Pennsylvania’s system that puts petitioning groups in danger of having to pay huge fees if their petitions are held to be invalid, was correct.
The Third Circuit says it is not deciding what to do about this situation for the 2016 election. The U.S. District Court in this same case had recently ruled that only the Third Circuit can decide whether to put the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties on the ballot this year with no petition. But that was because the Third Circuit had not yet ruled on the fees issue. Now that the Third Circuit has ruled, it is likely that the issue of how to handle things this year will return to the U.S. District Court.
Many thanks for this news, Richard! It does seem a bit “two steps forward, one step back” — but in this case, is the step back down to the District Court a positive thing? That court has seemed more explicitly favorable than the Third Circuit.