On July 2, the New Hampshire Supreme Court unanimously struck down a law passed in 2018 that makes it more difficult to register to vote. New Hampshire Democratic Party v Secretary of State, 2020-0252. Here is the 19-page opinion.
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On June 28, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a one-sentence ruling saying that the lower state court ruling in Grider v Oliver, S-1-SC-38784, is affirmed. The Supreme Court did not provide any analysis or detail. The lower court had ruled that the Libertarian Party was properly on the ballot in last month’s special U.S. House election. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
The New Mexico definition of a major party says that it is a group that polled 5% of the gubernatorial or presidential vote for “any” of its candidates. In 2020 the Libertarian Party polled over 5% of the presidential vote total for one of its statewide judicial nominees, and the Libertarian Party and the Secretary of State agreed that this meant that the party meets the definition. But a voter had challenged that decision, arguing that only the vote for president or governor counts toward party qualification.
On July 2, the Eighth Circuit ruled that the Arkansas ballot access lawsuit Whitfield v Thurston, 20-2309, is moot. This is the case filed by independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Whitfield in 2020. He needed 10,000 signatures and was unable to get them because of the covid health crisis. He also challenged the May 1 deadline. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law and had refused any relief.
The Eighth Circuit says the case is moot. Here is the 5-page opinion. It says that if Whitfield had alleged he wanted to be an independent candidate in a future election, it would not have been moot.
In the past ballot access constitutional cases have never been held moot just because the election was over, whether the candidate expected to run in a future election or not. The opinion acknowledges this, but says the U.S. Supreme Court has changed that old understanding, and says the plaintiff must show a personal future impact. However, none of the U.S. Supreme Court precedents cited by today’s Eighth Circuit are ballot access cases; instead they are campaign finance cases.
The new mootness rule discriminates against independent candidates, relative to minor parties. Minor parties are always assumed to be interested in the next election, but independent candidates are not. Thanks to Derek Muller for the link.
On July 1, the California Lieutenant Governor set the gubernatorial recall election for September 14. Candidates must file by July 16.
Free and Equal, Open the Debates, and the Brock Pierce Foundation are jointly sponsoring a two-day meeting in Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, California, July 3-4. Activists and musicians who support equality for non-major party candidates will be featured. The event can be watched remotely. See this link.
Brock Pierce was an independent presidential candidate in 2020.