On February 17, U.S. District Court Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, a Trump appointee, rejected the Arkansas lawsuit that dealt with legislative redistricting. Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v Arkansas Board of Apportionment, e.d., 4:21cv-1239. He determined that only the federal government can bring a lawsuit to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This was a surprise, because attorneys for the state of Arkansas had not made this argument.

Judge Rudofsky invited the U.S. Justice Department to enter the case, but he said that must be done within five days. He also said that even if the Voting Rights Act can be enforced by private individuals or groups, he would not have struck down the state house district boundaries for the 2022 election, because that election is too close in time. Here is the opinion.

The New York Libertarian Party will attempt to collect 45,000 signatures for its gubernatorial nominee, Larry Sharpe, this year. The New York Green Party will attempt to collect 45,000 signatures for its gubernatorial nominee, Howie Hawkins, this year. Both parties are in court fighting that new petition requirement; the case is pending in the Second Circuit.

The petitioning period is only six weeks, and starts in early April. New York is the only state that bans out-of-state circulators for general election candidate petitions. It is possible one or both campaigns might challenge that restriction. It was struck down on May 18, 2018, but then when the state appealed, the Second Circuit said the case is moot because the plaintiff Libertarian Party in November 2018 had become ballot-qualified and didn’t need to petition any more. That case was Free Libertarian Party v Spano, e.d.

Pennsylvania still hasn’t drawn new U.S. House districts. Although the legislature had passed a plan, the Governor had vetoed it. Therefore, the State Supreme Court appears to be getting ready to draw the districts.

On February 11, some Pennsylvania voters filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that it would violate the U.S. Constitution to let the State Supreme Court draw the districts. The Complaint argues that Article One gives state legislatures sole authority to write state election laws governing congressional elections, except that Congress can override state election laws affecting congressional elections. The Complaint also points to a very old federal law that says when a state loses a seat in the U.S. House, and fails to redistrict, all U.S. House members from that state should be elected at-large, until there is a redistricting plan.

The case is Toth v Chapman, m.d., 1:22cv-208. It is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson, a Trump appointee.