On June 3, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus denied relief to Ohio initiative proponents. Thompson v Governor of Ohio Michael DeWine, s.d., 2:20cv-2129. The case involved difficulty of completing initiative petitions (both statewide and local) during the health crisis. The judge said the case is not moot. He wrote, “The previous year illustrates the difficulty in predicting the high and low tides of a once-in-a-century pandemic. So long as a global pandemic is present, there is a ‘demonstrated possibility’ that Plaintiffs will be again subject to public health orders of the type they challenge in the Complaint.”

But, he said the Sixth Circuit has already ruled that the burden in 2020 for initiative proponents was only “intermediate” and that is not enough to declare the procedures, as applied in a pandemic, unconstitutional. Here is the opinion. Thanks to Mark Brown for the link.

Florida will hold a special election to fill the vacancy in the 20th congressional district on January 11, 2022. The seat is vacant because Congressman Alcee Hastings died on April 6, 2021. According to this story, one Libertarian and one independent have announced. The deadline for petitions in lieu of filing fee is August 3, and 1,168 signatures are needed. The filing fee for party members is $10,440. Presumably both the Libertarian and the independent will attempt to collect the signatures in lieu of filing fee.

Assuming a Libertarian does get on the ballot, that will be the first minor party U.S. House candidate on the Florida ballot since 2016, when there was a Libertarian in the Second District. Florida has very few minor party candidates for U.S. House because the filing fee is so high.

Meantime, a lawsuit is proceeding in U.S. District Court to force the state to hold the special election earlier. Dowling v DeSantis, s.d., 9:21cv-80796. On June 3, the state filed its brief, urging the court to dismiss the case.

According to this story, the Mayor of Pontiac, Michigan, will run for re-election as a write-in candidate in the August 3, 2021 non-partisan primary. She was kept off the ballot by the City Clerk because she has some unpaid campaign finance fines. There are four candidates who will be listed on the ballot. The Mayor, Deirdre Waterman, needs to place first or second on August 3.