On November 6, independent candidate Mark Moore asked the 8th circuit to reverse the decision of the U.S. District Court that upheld Arkansas’s non-presidential independent candidate petition deadline. Arkansas law says independent candidate petitions (for office other than President) are due on the same day that major party candidates file a declaration of candidacy to run in a primary. The U.S. District Court decision said early deadlines are only unconstitutional if the number of signatures is very large. However, this conclusion is plainly wrong, because in Anderson v Celebrezze, the U.S. Supreme Court said early petition deadlines are unconstitutional regardless of the number of signatures. In Anderson v Celebrezze, the number of signatures was less than one-tenth of 1% of the number of registered voters in Ohio at the time.

The case is Moore v Martin, 15-3558.