Florida Today, the daily newspaper for Brevard County, here recommends that Florida voters vote against the top-two initiative, which is Amendment Three on the ballot. Brevard County has a population of 543,000 and is on the east coast of central Florida.
On September 28, Angela Craig, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota law that says an election in her district can’t be held on November 3. Craig v Simon, 0:20cv-2066. Here is her Brief, which was filed on September 29.
The reason the Minnesota Secretary of State had announced that no election would be held in the Second District is that one of the candidates, Adam Weeks, had died on September 21. The state law, passed in 2013, says if the nominee of a qualified party dies within 79 days of an election, the election is postponed til the second Tuesday in February of the following year. The lawsuit depends on the 1872 federal law, 2 USC 7, that tells states to hold congressional elections in November. Thanks to Steve Kamp for this news.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Wilhelmina Wright, an Obama appointee.
On Monday, September 28, the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay in Texas Alliance for Retired Americans v Hughs, 20-40643. The U.S. District Court had ordered Texas to put a straight-ticket device on the November 3, 2020 ballot. The Fifth Circuit stay is only for a few days, while the Fifth Circuit considers the merits. The three judges who have the case are all appointees of George Bush Jr.: Edith Brown Clement, Catharine Haynes, and Jennifer Walker Elrod.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party has submitted its petition for party status in Nebraska. Assuming the petition has enough valid signatures, it will be on the ballot for 2022. It will remain on the ballot after November 2022 if it polls at least 5% for one of the statewide offices, or if its registration reaches 10,000. The offices on the 2022 ballot that the party could plausibly poll 5% for are Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Auditor. Then, if it gets 5% for any of those, it will be on the ballot in both 2024 and 2026.
Currently the only qualified parties in Nebraska are Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian. The Libertarian Party has well over 10,000 registrations, so it is not particularly motivated to run for the lesser state statewide offices that are up in 2022. That enhances the chances that the Legal Marijuana Party will poll enough votes in 2022 to remain on.
Om September 28, Pennsylvania Republican leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court to countermand an order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that extended the deadline for postal ballots to be received in election administration offices. The State Supreme Court said if the envelopes have no visible postmark, they need not arrive until Friday, November 6. Election day is November 3. Scranati v Pennsylvania Democratic Part, 20A53.
The request is in the hands of Justice Samuel Alito, who handles such matters for cases arising from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
