Pennsylvania Won’t Calculate Number of Signatures for Independent Candidates for District Office Until March 16

Posted on by March 10, 2022
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It is always difficult for Pennsylvania election officials to calculate the number of signatures needed for district office, for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties, in years after redistricting. The law requires a petition of 2% of the winner’s vote for the same office in the previous election. But after redistricting, that calculation is difficult, because the new boundaries must be overlaid on the old election returns.

This year, the Pennsylvania Elections Department says it will have the requirements known by March 16. The formula is likely to show that in a few U.S. House districts, the number of signatures will exceed 5,000. If so, that would be unconstitutional, because the U.S. Supreme Court has twice ruled that the number of signatures for district office can’t be higher than the number for statewide office, and the Pennsylvania statewide requirement is exactly 5,000.

Utah Legislature Moves Independent Candidate Petition Deadlines to March for 2022 and to January for Future Years

Posted on by March 10, 2022
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On February 14, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed SB 170. It moves the petition deadline for independent candidates for office other than president from mid-March to March 4, for 2022. And for years in the future, it moves it to January 6 of election years.

Even more shocking, it moves the presidential independent deadline to January of election years as well. The old independent presidential petition deadline was August 15.

Utah lost a case in U.S. District Court in 1984 over the independent presidential deadline. LaRouche v Monson, 599 F.Supp. 621. In that case, the state admitted its old April 15 deadline was too early. The basis for the 1984 decision was that in 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in Anderson v Celebrezze that Ohio’s March 20 presidential independent deadline was too early.

Utah also lost a deadline lawsuit in 2017, United Utah Party v Cox, 268 F.3d 1227. In that case, the petition deadline for a new party to participate in a special election, six months before that special election, was held unconstitutional.

The 2022 primary is June 28. Courts have unanimously held that non-presidential independent candidate petition deadlines can’t be earlier than the primary.

Tennessee Bill to Require Congressional Candidates to Have Lived in the State Three Years Advances

Posted on by March 10, 2022
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On March 8, the Tennessee House Local Government Committee passed HB 2764. It imposes a residency requirement of three years in the state, to run for Congress. It is similar to SB 2616, which passed the Senate on February 28. The difference between the two bills is that the House bill would not take effect until 2023, whereas the Senate bill takes effect this year.

The bills clearly violate the U.S. Supreme Court holding in U.S. Term Limits v Thornton, the 1995 decision that said neither states nor congress can add to the constitutional qualifications to run for congress.

Illinois Green Party Asks Court to Rule that It is a Qualified Party for Additional Offices in Cook County

Posted on by March 10, 2022
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As reported earlier, on March 4, the Illinois Libertarian Party won a federal court ruling that it is a qualified party for purposes of running candidates this year for Cook County Commissioners. The Green Party is seeking to intervene in this lawsuit, and to establish that it is a qualified party for Township Committee offices throughout Cook County. The basis is that in November 2020, the Green Party polled over 5% for Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which includes almost all of Cook County.

The election office opposes the Green Party’s intervention. It says the party tried to intervene too late, and also that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is not precisely the same territory as Cook County, and therefore the Green Party showing for the Water District has no impact on any other offices. The case is Libertarian Party of Illinois v Yarbrough, n.d., 1:22cv-578.

Cook County election officials already recognize that the Green Party is ballot-qualified in six Cook County Townships, based on the party having polled over 5% in 2018 in six townships.