Court in at least three cities are holding hearings on Wednesday, October 8:

1. Tennessee Senator Rosalind Kurita is asking a federal court to put her back on the ballot. She had won the Democratic primary in August, but the Democratic Party refused to accept that outcome because it said too many Republicans voted in the Democratic primary. The October 6 decision from the 9th circuit in Alaskan Independence Party v State should be useful to her. The real reason Kurita was decertified as a Democratic nominee is because she supported a Republican for State Senate leader last year. The Alaskan Independence Party decision from the 9th circuit said that parties cannot bar candidates from running in party primaries, regardless of their politics. The 9th circuit does not control what happens in a U.S. District Court in Tennessee, but the opinion will be influential. UPDATE: this hearing is being held on Friday, October 10. In the meantime, the state has filed a brief claiming that it is too late to put Kurita on the ballot.

2. The Connecticut Libertarian Party has a status conference in federal court over Bob Barr’s ballot status. The state has hinted that if the party has convincing evidence that the Barr petition has at least 7,500 valid signatures, the case can be resolved.

3. The long-awaited trial begins in state court in Minneapolis, over whether anything in the Minnesota Constitution bars Instant-Runoff Voting.

4. The Green Party of Vermont has a pro se case arguing that it is a qualified party, which has a hearing in state court in Montpelier on October 8. The case is Craig Hill v Secretary of State, 640-9-08. The party was unable to find an attorney to represent it, so the plaintiff is the party’s candidate for U.S. House, who will argue even though he is not an attorney. UPDATE: the hearing was held, and now a new round of briefs is about to be filed.