All the full-time judges of the Fifth Circuit will hear Harness v Hosemann, 19-60632, on September 22, 2021. This is the case challenging Mississippi’s ban on ex-felon voting. The original panel had upheld the law, but then the entire set of full-time judges in the Fifth Circuit had decided to rehear the case. Bans on ex-felon disenfranchisement are unconstitutional if the evidence shows that the ban was motivated by a desire to injure a particular racial or ethnic minority.
Last month, the Ninth Circuit had tentatively scheduled a November 2021 oral argument date in Mecinas v Hobbs, 20-16301. This is the case in which the Democratic Party challenges the Arizona law on the order of candidates on general election ballots. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law, which says that the party that won the gubernatorial election in any particular county enjoys having its nominees on the top line on the ballot.
In 2020, the Democratic Party had sued six states over the order of candidates, but this is the only surviving case. The party lost the others.
However, the Secretary of State of Arizona recently asked the Ninth Circuit for a delay in the proceedings, because on June 30, 2021, SB 1823 was signed into law. It says the Attorney General cannot represent the Secretary of State in court until 2023. It also forbids the Secretary of State from hiring an outside attorney. The bill says the Secretary of State can hire one in-house attorney, but the bill grants no funding to pay for that. So, the Secretary of State says the ballot order case must be delayed for two months until she can decide how to defend the state law.
The bill seems to have been motivated by partisan politics. The Secretary of State is a Democrat and the legislature has a Republican majority. See this story.
Senator Joan Huffman (R-Houston) has introduced SB 13 into the second special session of the Texas legislature. It says that if redistricting is finished by November 15, 2021, the 2022 primary will be held March 1, which is the same date set by the existing law. If the redistricting is not done by November 15, 2021, but is done by December 28, then the primary will be April 5 and the run-off will be June 21. But if redistricting still isn’t done by December 28, then the primary will be May 24 and the run-off will be July 26. Thanks to Art DiBianca for this news.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for a new special session to begin Saturday, August 7. The Governor put moving the 2022 primary on the agenda. That will have big implications for ballot access for 2022. See his agenda here. Texas does not permit independent candidate petitions, or petitions to qualify a new party, to begin to circulate until the day after the primary. So if the primary is later, the deadlines must also be later. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
Eddie Wenrich, a resident of Pennsylvania, says he will be an independent candidate for Governor in 2022. See this story. Pennsylvania has not had an independent candidate for Governor on the ballot since 1942, when John J. Haluska ran, using the ballot label “United Pension.”
Wenrich will need 5,000 signatures, due August 1, 2022.
