Washington Secretary of State Announces Which Presidential Candidates Have Enough Valid Signatures

Posted on by August 27, 2020
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On August 25, the Washington Secretary of State issued a press release, saying that four petitions for presidential ballot status are valid: those of the Libertarian, Green, Socialism & Liberation, and Socialist Workers Party.

As reported previously, there is no determination yet about the petitions for the Constitution, American Solidarity, and Alliance Parties, because the Secretary of State is waiting for a state court to tell her if she can count signatures of voters who signed more than one presidential petition.

Ballot Access Relief in Connecticut, Georgia and New York Didn’t Help Any Statewide Candidates

Posted on by August 27, 2020
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In Connecticut, Georgia, and New York, ballot access relief due to the health crisis was granted, either by Governors or by courts. But the relief wasn’t enough in any of those three states to help any petitions for statewide office, for either minor parties or independents.

In Connecticut, the Governor had cut the number from 7,500 to 5,250, but no one submitted a statewide petition. The only statewide office in Connecticut this year is President. The only presidential candidates who will be on the ballot are from the four parties that were already ballot-qualified for that office: Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green.

In Georgia, the state legislature extended the petition deadline a month, and a U.S. District Court cut the presidential petition from 7,500 to 5,250, but neither improvement made any difference in statewide races. No statewide or U.S. House petition succeeded. The only presidential candidates who will be on are the nominees of the ballot-qualified Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties.

In New York, the Governor had cut the number from 30,000 to 15,000, but no statewide petition succeeded. There is no other statewide race in New York this year. The qualified parties are Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Green, Working Families, Libertarian, Independence, and SAM.

No Statewide Independent Petitions or New Party Registration Drives Succeeded in Delaware This Year

Posted on by August 27, 2020
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The Delaware Election Commission has posted a candidate list, although it does not include Democrats or Republicans for office other than president, because their primaries haven’t been held yet. For president, only the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green Parties will be on the ballot, unless the nominee of the American Delta Party is able to prevail. The Independent Party is also ballot-qualified but it chose not to run anyone for president, although it is active this year and has nominees for many other offices.

No statewide independent petition has succeeded in Delaware since 1992, when Ross Perot qualified. The law requires 7,118 signatures, due July 15.

No new parties qualified in Delaware this year.

The American Delta Party is ballot-qualified and wants to run Rocky De La Fuente for president, but the party was late with some of its presidential elector paperwork. The Delaware law is discriminatory and requires qualified minor parties (which nominate by convention) to certify their nominees before the Democratic and Republican Parties are required to do so. The Delaware Elections Commission is considering whether to rule that the American Delta Party should be allowed to put its nominee on the ballot.

No Statewide Minor Party or Independent Presidential Petitions Succeeded in Nevada This Year

Posted on by August 27, 2020
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Nevada requires 9,608 signatures for a new party, or an independent presidential candidate. No candidate or group submitted a petition in Nevada that would have added a presidential candidate to the ballot.

The qualified parties in Nevada are Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Constitution. The Green Party had been planning to sue, because Nevada only requires 250 signatures for a statewide independent candidate for office other than president. The U.S. Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze says states should be more lenient for president than for other office. The proposed Nevada lawsuit would have been similar to the winning 2020 lawsuit against the District of Columbia ballot access law, which had a similar flaw (D.C.. required 250 signatures for all districtwide partisan office except president, but approximately 5,000 for president). But the Green Party was never able to find an in-state attorney in Nevada. It is possible the case will still be filed, for declaratory judgment, but it is too late to expect any court to grant injunctive relief.

Republican National Congressional Committee Sues to Remove Most Texas Libertarian Congressional Candidates from Ballot

Posted on by August 27, 2020
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On August 21, the National Republican Congressional Committee filed a lawsuit in Texas Court of Appeals to remove the Libertarian congressional candidates from the ballot if they hadn’t paid a filing fee. At the same time, the Texas House Republican Caucus PAC filed a parallel lawsuit to remove the Libertarian candidates for state office who had not paid a filing fee.

Whether the filing fee for convention parties is constitutional is still pending in another lawsuit in Texas state court.

On August 25, the Texas Court of Appeals in Austin rejected the Republican lawsuits, which are numbers o3-20-421-cv and 03-20-422-cv. On the evening of August 26, the Republicans appealed to the State Supreme Court.