On March 4, U.S. District Court Judge Richard E. Myers, a Trump appointee, ruled from the bench at the close of the hearing in Cawthorn v Circosta, e.d., 5:22cv-50. He enjoined North Carolina election officials from permitting a challenge to the ballot access of Congressman Madison Cawthorn on the grounds that the Fourteenth Amendment, section three, bars congressional candidates who engaged in insurrection after having taken an oath to the Constitution. The judge said that when Congress passed the Amnesty Act in 1872, that suspended that part of the Constitution. That point is legally contested; the other side says the 1872 Amnesty Act just applied to the Confederate officials for their actions in the civil war.

The written opinion will be posted here when it is available.

The Orange County Register has this article about the Common Sense Party and its inability so far to qualify for the California ballot. Thanks to Eric Wong for the link.

On February 23, the South Dakota Senate Commerce & Energy Committee defeated HB 1116. It would have moved the presidential primary from June to early March. It would have retained the June date for the non-presidential primary. The bill had passed the House on February 15. County election officials testified against the bill, citing the cost of holding two different primaries in the same election year.