On May 27, the Arkansas Libertarian Party filed this brief in its ballot access case against the 3% petition passed in 2019. Although both the U.S. District Court and the Eighth Circuit enjoined the law, the issue of declaratory relief is still pending. This brief asks the U.S. District Court to declare the 3% petition unconstitutional. Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Thurston, e.d., 4:19cv-214.
Texas HB 3868, which would have replaced presidential electors on the spot if they didn’t vote for the candidate they were expected to vote for, will not pass the 2021 session. Even though it passed the House and the Senate policy committee, it didn’t meet a deadline for being considered by the full Senate. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
On May 27, some proponents of an Arkansas initiative filed a federal lawsuit against the new Arkansas restrictions on initiative petitions. Liberty Initiative Fund v Thurson, e.d., 4:21cv-460. Here is the Complaint. It challenges the ban on out-of-state circulators, the ban on paying circulators on a per-signature basis, and other restrictions included in SB 614, which was signed into law on April 29.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James Moody, who struck down the early petition deadline for independent candidates a few years ago.
On May 27, the Sixth Circuit upheld the rules for membership on Michigan’s nonpartisan redistricting commission. Daunt v Benson, 20-1734. Here is the opinion. The three judges were Karen Nelson Moore and Ronald Gilman (Clinton appointees) and Chad Readler (a Trump appointee).
The Michigan membership rules bar people who have run for partisan office in the last six years, elected officials, party officers, paid consultants to political campaigns, lobbyists, employees of the legislature, and the parents, children, or spouses of such individuals. Persons not prohibited may apply to serve on the commission, and a random procedure is used to pick 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 5 voters who are neither.
The lawsuit was filed by some politically active individuals who don’t qualify. They argued that the First Amendment does not allow the state to prohibit them from serving. The decision depends partly on U.S. Supreme Court opinions that upheld the Hatch Act, which barred federal employees from being active in partisan politics. The Hatch Act still exists, but congress has whittled it back in recent decades.
Although all three judges agree that the Michigan law is constitutional, Judge Readler wrote separately to say that the Sixth Circuit has been too inclined to strike down state election laws. His concurrence shows that he does not agree with Sixth Circuit ballot access opinions that have struck down various Ohio and Michigan ballot access restrictions.
On May 27, the New Hampshire Senate passed HB 98, which moves the non-presidential primary from the second Tuesday in September, to the second Tuesday in August. It also moves the deadline for petitioning candidates to file a declaration of candidacy from June to May. Since that declaration even applies to presidential candidates, it would violate the U.S. Supreme Court precedent Anderson v Celebrezze.
The bill is not yet through the legislature, because the Senate version is different from the House version. Now the bill goes back to the House.
