News stories are reporting that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the term, probably in June 2022 but possibly in July 2022.

Justice Breyer is the only member of the current court who has ever expressed any support for voting rights for minor party and independent candidates. In 2005, the last time a full decision of the U.S. Supreme Court mentioned ballot access for minor party and independent candidates and voters, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Breyer wrote, “Although the State has a role to play in regulating elections, it is not a wholly independent or neutral arbiter. Rather, the State is itself controlled by the political party or parties in power, which presumably have an incentive to shape the rules of the electoral game to their own benefit…As such restrictions become more severe, and particularly where they have discriminatory effects, there is increasing cause for concern that those in power may be using electoral rules to erect barriers to electoral conpetition.”

Also, in 2004, Breyer voted to hear Ralph Nader’s ballot access case against Oregon. The Secretary of State of Oregon had rejected Nader, even though the county election officials had determined that Nader’s independent petition had enough valid signatures. The Secretary of State overrode that determination, because, he said, the page numbers of some petition sheets were incorrect. Breyer was the only justice who wanted to hear the Oregon case.