On June 24, the Michigan State Court of Appeals issued a 4-page opinion in Moore v Genesee County, 355291. The case concerned an election for Goodrich Village Council. In 2020, a candidate forgot to check the box on her candidacy paperwork that says she is qualified for the position and that she is a U.S. citizen. The trial court said it was not a serious error and put her on the ballot. But the State Appeals Court ruled that was an error, and that she should have been left off the ballot.

The candidate also forgot to put her zip code, but the Appeals Court said a zip code is not mandatory on the form.

The candidate, Sherry Ann Moore, won her election in November 2020, and no one on either side of the lawsuit argued that she should be unseated. So the state appeals court decision has no impact, except to settle the issue for future Michigan elections. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

On March 25, the U.S. Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against parts of the Georgia bill that made it more difficult for certain kinds of voters to vote. USA v State of Georgia, n.d., 1:21cv-2575. Here is the 46-page Complaint. Thanks to the ElectionLawBlog for the link.

The lawsuit alleges that parts of the new law violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Here is a press release from the Justice Department explaining the main points of the lawsuit (in the top paragraph).

On June 24, the Arizona Supreme Court finally explained why it had invalidated Kanye West’s independent presidential petition in 2020. Clayton v West, cv-20-0249. Here is the eight-page opinion.

The petition was invalid because West’s nominees for presidential elector did not file statements of interest, a form that did not exist until it was created in 2019. The Arizona Supreme Court did not mention the fact that the Secretary of State’s website, which has detailed instructions for candidates of all types, never said that candidates for presidential elector must file this form. The Court simply said, the law requires candidates of almost all kinds to file such statements, and West’s electors did not, so he was properly kept off the ballot.

The Court did reject the other argument against West, that he could not be an independent presidential candidate because he was a registered Republican in his home state of Wyoming.

From now on, all candidates for presidential elector in Arizona are on notice that they must file a statement of interest. The statement of interest is to indicate that the applicant intends to be a candidate in the upcoming election, and provides contact information. The form does not ask about campaign finance. An earlier version of this post said that it is a campaign finance document, but it is not.