On February 19, the Maine Libertarian Party filed this response brief in Baines v Bellows, 1:19cv-509. This is the ballot access case filed in 2019, challenging Maine’s definition of “political party”, and the requirements for members of small qualified parties to get on their own party’s primary ballot, and the law that eliminates all a party’s registrants when it goes off the ballot.
The Iowa House Committee on State Government has introduced HF 590, an omnibus election law bill which increases the petition requirements for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties. Currently the only qualified parties in Iowa are the Republican and Democratic Parties.
The bill raises the petition requirement for president, governor, and U.S. Senator from 1,500 to 3,500. It also imposes a severe county distribution requirement, which is unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court decision Moore v Ogilvie (1969). The distribution requirement in the bill is 100 signatures from at least 19 counties.
The petition for lesser statewide office would rise from 1,500 signatures to 2,500 signatures, with at least 75 signatures from each of 18 counties.
The petition for U.S. House would rise from 375 signatures to 1,726 signatures, with at least 47 signatures required from each of half the counties in the district.
The alternate procedure for unqualified parties to get on the ballot, which is seldom used, would rise from a meeting of 250 attendees, to 500 attendees.
In 2019, the Iowa legislature moved the petition deadline for these petitions from August to March. The Libertarian Party is currently suing Iowa over the deadline change in U.S. District Court. The case has moved very slowly so far, but briefs will be submitted in early March.
It is now too late for Pennsylvania HB 38 to pass, in time to appear on the May 2021 primary ballot. See this story. HB 38 would alter Pennsylvania’s elections for appellate judges. Those elections are partisan now, and all three types of judges are elected statewide. The bill would have changed that, so that the state would be divided into judicial districts, which each district electing its own judge. It changes the state constitution so even if it passes the legislature, the voters must vote on it. The bill’s backers had hoped to pass it in time for the idea to be on the May 2021 primary ballot, but now the best they may do is to get it on the November 2021 ballot.
This story says that Kanye West is reported to believe that his independent presidential candidacy was the fatal blow to his marriage.
On February 11, the New Hampshire State Senate defeated SB 43, which would have let each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. The vote was 10-14. Thanks to Alvin See for this news.
