On October 5, the Connecticut Libertarian Party filed this petition for rehearing en banc in the Second Circuit in Libertarian Party of Connecticut v Merrill, 20-2179. On October 2, the Second Circuit had refused any ballot access relief, notwithstanding the health crisis. The petition for rehearing acknowledges that it is too late for practical relief for the 2020 election, but asks the Second Circuit to rehear the case for future elections.

The rehearing request points out that the Secretary of State of Connecticut had recommended that petitioning be waived for parties that were on the ballot automatically for at least one of the statewide offices, but the Governor had countermanded that, and instead had merely reduced the petition requirements to 70% of normal.

The Libertarian Party was on the ballot automatically for president and one U.S. House seat, but it wanted to run candidates for other congressional races, and many legislative races. In Connecticut, the vote test is unique. It is 1%, but it applies office-by-office. A party that got 1% for one particular race in the previous election is on the ballot automatically just for that one office. No other state has a vote test like this.

Public Broadcasting Service is sponsoring debates for all Arkansas congressional races, and has invited all three Libertarian congressional candidates to participate. See this story. In the U.S. House races, there are Libertarians in two districts out of the four.

The Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate, Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr., is the only opponent for incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton. The independent write-in candidate withdrew last month, and there is no Democratic nominee. Because Senator Cotton refuses to debate Harrington, PBS will air two interviews with Harrington.

A recent American Research Group poll shows Cotton at 49%, Harrington at 38%, and the remainder undecided.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has this story about the American Independent Party. Although it starts by being about the party’s endorsement of Congressman Darrell Issa, it evolves into a story about the AIP itself.