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Public Broadcasting Story on Georgia Libertarian Absence from the 2026 Statewide Ballot

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Richard WingerJuly 10, 2026

A Public Broadcasting station in Georgia has this story about the Libertarian Party’s absence from the 2026 statewide ballot. 2026 will be the first time since 1986 that only Republicans and Democrats will appear on the Georgia ballot for statewide offices. The story says Libertarians will try to lobby for better ballot access in next year’s legislative session.

The only reason the Libertarian Party is not on the 2026 ballot is that in 2024, the normal races for Public Service Commissioner were temporarily removed from the ballot. Libertarians always get enough votes for those offices, and normally they appear on the ballot in every election. But courts cancelled those elections for 2024 while a court fight was carried on as to whether the Voting Rights Act required that the Public Service Commissioner elections be district offices instead of statewide offices. In the end, the courts allowed those elections to continue to be statewide.

Twenty-One States Still Haven’t Held Their 2026 Congressional Primaries

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Richard WingerJuly 10, 2026

States that still haven’t finished holding congressional primaries this year are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Congressional Bill to Help Pay for Implementation of Ranked Choice Voting

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Richard WingerJuly 10, 2026

U.S. House member Kelly Morrison (D-Minnesota) has introduced HR 9634. It would help states and localities with funding if they are switching to Ranked Choice Voting. The text is still not available on the congressional website, but when it is, this post will be amended to link to the text.

Florida Incumbent Legislator Kept Off Ballot For Failing to Submit a Campaign Finance Form

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Richard WingerJuly 10, 2026

On July 8, a Florida state trial court issued an opinion in Stark v Byrd, Circuit Court, 2nd district, Leon County, 2026CA-1311. This is the case over whether Paula Stark, an incumbent Republican member of the Florida legislature, should be on the Republican primary ballot. The judge ruled that she should not be on the ballot because she didn’t submit one particular campaign finance form. She alleged that her campaign treasurer had turned in the form and that the election office employee had handed it back. But the judge did not believe this claim, and thought it most likely that the campaign treasurer had not handed it in.

Stark can’t be a write-in candidate in November because it is already too late to file as a declared write-in candidate in Florida. Florida has the earliest deadline for filing as a write-in candidate in the nation. It somewhat defeats the purpose of having write-in space on the general election ballot for the deadline to be so early. As a result, no Republican will be on the general election ballot, and the Democratic nominee will be the automatic winner.

North Dakota Likely to Elect an Independent Candidate to the State Legislature This Year

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Richard WingerJuly 9, 2026

According to this story, the Democratic Party has been left without a nominee in one of the legislative districts in Fargo, North Dakota. And the district is strongly Democratic. But the Democratic incumbent died, and the party has no way to replace him. So, an independent candidate who leans Democratic has qualified. Cara Cody-Braun, if she wins, will be the first person elected as an independent to the North Dakota legislature since 1966. However, North Dakota did elect an independent candidate to be Secretary of State in 2018.