The Arizona Libertarian Party last month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its ballot access case, Libertarian Party of Arizona v Hobbs, 19-757. The U.S. Supreme Court then set a January 13 for the state to respond, if it wishes to.

Normally, when an appellee in the U.S. Supreme Court is notified that the other side has filed a cert petition, the appellee either responds by the deadline, or send a letter saying it doesn’t wish to respond. But the deadline for Arizona’s response has now passed, and the state has not even bothered to respond at all. It has not notified the court that it doesn’t wish to respond; it has simply done nothing.

The next step will be for the U.S. Supreme Court to set a date to consider the case at conference. It is possible the Court will also ask Arizona to respond. If the Court doesn’t ask for a response, there is almost no chance that it will accept the case.