On July 30, U.S. District Court Judge Freda L. Wolfson, a Bush Jr. appointee, upheld a New Jersey law concerning ballot labels in partisan primary elections. Mazo v Way, 3:20cv-8174. Here is the 37-page opinion. New Jersey primary ballots, unlike primary ballots in any other state, let candidates name an individual or an organization that has endorsed the candidate. But the law says if an individual or group is named, it must give permission to the candidate to use its name. The plaintiffs wanted to mention some individuals and groups that had not given permission, but the judge ruled against the candidates.

This case should not be confused with Conforti v Hanlon, another New Jersey case involving primary ballots that is pending before another U.S. District Court Judge. Conforti v Hanlon concerns the structure of the primary ballot, in which some candidates get better treatment than others.

On August 9, eleven Democratic State Senators introduced a bill to repeal the Texas “primary screenout” law. That law prohibits voters from signing a petition for a new party or an independent candidate, if the voter had voted in a primary that year. The bill, SB 58, is sponsored by Sarah Eckhardt, Carol Alvarado, Cesar Blanco, Roland Gutierrez, Juan Hinojosa, Nathan Johnson, Eddie Lucio, Jose Menendez, Beverly Powell, John Whitmire, and Judith Zaffirini. Thanks to Art DiBianca for this news.

Florida’s Attorney General has announced that the state will not appeal the U.S. District Court decision in ACLU of Florida v Lee, n.d., 4:21cv-190. That decision enjoined the new law that made it illegal for anyone to contribute more than $3,000 to a campaign for a statewide initiative. Thanks to the Free Speech Institute for this news.