The Houston, Texas charter says no one may circulate a city initiative petition who is not a resident and registered voter in the city. On October 23, the Fifth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court and reinstated a lawsuit filed by Trent Pool in 2019 against the residency/registration requirement. Pool v City of Houston, 19-20828.

The decision is by Judge Gregg Costa, an Obama appointee. It is also signed by Judge James E. Graves, an Obama appointee; and Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, a Bush Jr. appointee. The city had admitted the law is unconstitutional but claimed that Pool didn’t have standing and also that the case is moot. But the Fifth Circuit pointed out that the petition form still says circulators must be eligible to sign their own petition, so it sent the case back to the U.S. District Court with instructions that there is no standing or mootness problem with the lawsuit. Here is the eleven-page opinion.

On October 26, both U.S. Senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, asked voters to vote for Joe Biden on the Working Families line, not the Democratic line. See this story.

In related news, on October 27, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders both criticized the New York Democratic Party for putting out a campaign brochure that shows pictures of them. The brochure asks voters to vote for Democrats on the Democratic line. Senators Warren and Sanders say they did not give permission to have their pictures on that brochure, and repeated that they want voters to vote for Joe Biden on the WFP line. See this story.

The Queens Daily Eagle has this op-ed by two New York city Democratic Party officials. It urges voters to vote for Joe Biden on the Working Families line, not the Democratic line. This is because they believe the Working Families Party deserves to remain ballot-qualified. The new ballot access law passed six months ago requires all qualified parties to poll at least 2% for president in order to remain on the ballot.