On August 30, some voters who want to vote for him Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown as an independent candidate filed a federal lawsuit against the New York petition deadline for independent candidates. In 2019 the legislature moved it from August to May, which was a sharp break with tradition. The deadline had always been in August, September, or October of election years until the 2019 change.

The case is Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, w.d., 1:21cv-982. It is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge John L. Sinatra, a Trump appointee, who has set the hearing for an injunction on Friday, September 3, at 10:30 a.m. in Buffalo. Here is the complaint.