On April 22, an Arizona state trial court determined that state election procedures for challenging unqualified candidates cannot be used to bar three Republicans accused of running afoul of the “insurrection” language in the 14th amendment. See this story. Thanks to Steve Kamp for the link.
UPDATE: the case is Hansen v Finchem, Superior Court, Maricopa County, CV2022-004321. Here is the 19-page opinion. An appeal to the State Supreme Co0urt is pending.
Here is a news story about the Fair Deal Party, the proposed party that New York state Democrats are backing so as to give Governor Kathy Hochul another line on the November ballot, beyond the Democratic Party and perhaps the Working Families Party.
Petitioning for the general election has just started, but the New Deal Party doesn’t appear to have a Lieutenant Governor nominee yet. In New York, in the general election, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run as a team.
On April 21, U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Arleo, an Obama appointee, upheld the New Jersey law that requires candidates for sheriff to have lived in the county for the last three years. Oswald v Ireland-Imhof, 2:22cv-2195. Here is the opinion.
New Jersey does not have any duration of residency requirement for any other public office that is longer than one year.
The only qualified parties on the ballot in North Dakota this year are the Republican and Democratic Parties. This is the first year since 2006 for which that has been true. For 2008-2020, the Libertarian Party was also on the ballot.
The petition is 7,000 signatures, and the North Dakota Libertarian Party didn’t submit a petition this year because party leaders said they had no candidates willing to run for office this year.
In 2006, although the Libertarian Party wasn’t on the ballot in North Dakota, it placed an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. Senate. The non-presidential independent petition is much easier, and requires 1,000 signatures due in early September. An independent candidate could still qualify in North Dakota this year.
On April 21, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth District, invalidated the new U.S. House district boundaries as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The decision is based on the State Constitution. Harkenrider v Hochul, 22-00506. The vote is 3-2. Both dissenters, Justices Gerald J. Whalen and Joanne M. Winslow, are Democrats. The majority comprises Republican Justice John V. Centra, and Democratic Justices Stephen K. Lindley and John M. Curran. Here is the decision. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.
The order gives the legislature until April 30 to draw new districts. It is extremely likely that the case will be appealed to the state’s highest state court, the Court of Appeals.
