On August 15, Rocky De La Fuente, independent presidential candidate, sued Pennsylvania over the state’s rejection of his petition. De La Fuente is a registered Democrat in Florida. The state says independent candidates must not have been affiliated with a qualified party during the two months before filing. De La Fuente argues the state is misunderstanding its own law, and the law only pertains to qualified parties inside Pennsylvania.

In 1992, Ross Perot submitted his independent petition to Pennsylvania in June. His petition listed James Stockdale as his vice-presidential running mate. Stockdale had been a registered Republican in California until the middle of May 1992, but Pennsylvania did not bar Stockdale from the ballot.

The lawsuit is in U.S. District Court in the middle district, De La Fuente v Cortes, 1:16cv-1696. It is assigned to Judge John Jones.