On June 24, U.S. District Court Judge Kristen Baker, an Obama appointee, declined to give injunctive relief to various independent candidates in Arkansas. The lead plaintiff, Dan Whitfield, running for U.S. Senate, needed 10,000 signatures by May 1, and the evidence showed that he would have succeeded except for the health crisis. Nevertheless, the opinion says the situation he faced was not “severe.”

Whitfield had also asserted an equal protection claim, that because Arkansas only requires 1,000 signatures for independent presidential candidates, there is no reason to require him to collect 10,000. The opinion says, “The argument that candidates for these offices are similarly situated is not well developed in the record evidence or briefing submitted by Mr. Whitfield or Mr. Fults, nor is it addressed by Secretary Thurston.” Because the case hasn’t yet reached a decision on declaratory relief, this claim can receive more evidence later in the process.

Whitfield will appeal. Because no Democrat is running for U.S. Senate in Arkansas this year, if Whitfield is unable to win on appeal, the only candidates for U.S. Senate on the November ballot will be incumbent Republican Tom Cotton, and the Libertarian Party nominee.

Here is the 51-page opinion. There are also ten pages of Exhibits. The opinion says that it is not necessarily true that the 10,000-signature requirement is constitutional. It says on page 34, “The Court rejects Secretary Thurston’s legal argument on this point as overly simplistic.” The state had pointed out that requiring 10,000 signatures for new parties (for office other than president) is constitutional, and therefore the independent requirement must also be constitutional, but the order says, “The Court determines that a requirement may be constitutional as applied to a political party — with likely vaster resources, membership, and levels of experience and a rolling as opposed to fixed 90-day window for collection — and unconstitutional as applied to an individual and independent candidate.”

UPDATE: here is a news story.