U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Reagan will hold oral arguments in Tripp v Smart on October 5, 2015, at 9 a.m. This is a Green Party case against several Illinois ballot access laws, including the requirement that each petition sheet be notarized. This case is in the southern district and will be argued in East St. Louis.

Two other Illinois constitutional ballot access cases are pending. The Libertarian Party’s lawsuit against the requirement that newly-qualifying parties must run a full slate was filed in 2012, and has never had a ruling on declaratory relief. It is assigned to a new U.S. District Court Judge who has six times promised a ruling by a certain date, but has never actually issued a ruling.

Also, the Green Party has another case, in Chicago, Lopez v Smart. It challenges the full slate law also. It has a status conference on September 8 before U.S. District Court Judge John Robert Blakey.