U.S. District Court Will Hear Arguments in New York Ballot Access Case on Thursday, August 13

Posted on by August 12, 2020
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U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl will hear the various minor party lawsuits against the 2020 New York state ballot access law on Thursday, August 13. The new law, signed April 2, 2020, triples the number of signatures needed for statewide independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. It changes the definition of a qualified party from a group that got 50,000 votes for Governor, to one that got 130,000 votes or 2% (whichever is greater) for the office at the top of the ballot every two years. The new law is being challenged by the SAM Party, the Working Families Party, the Green Party, and the Libertarian Party.

Some Montana Green Party Nominees File Federal Lawsuit To Get Party Back on the Ballot

Posted on by August 11, 2020
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On August 11, some Montana Green Party nominees filed a federal lawsuit to get themselves and their party back on the Montana general election ballot. The party was removed last week by a state trial court. The plaintiff-candidates are Gary Marbut, running for State Senate; and Royal Davis, running for Attorney General. Davis v Stapleton, 6:20cv-62. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, an Obama appointee. Here is the Complaint.

The party was removed because even though it had enough signatures statewide, it lacked enough signatures in one legislative district. The new federal lawsuit does not complain about the unequal distribution requirement. The Montana Green Party has a separate lawsuit pending in the Ninth Circuit against the distribution requirement.

The Montana Green Party had its own primary this year before it had been removed from the ballot. The new lawsuit depends on due process, and on concern for the voting rights of the voters who voted in the Green Party primary this year. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

Tennessee Legislature Passes Bill Extending Independent Petition Deadline for Certain Independent Candidates

Posted on by August 11, 2020
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On June 22, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB1278 and SB1009, identical bills that extend the petition deadline for certain independent candidates. The bill takes effect immediately and applies to 2020 and all future elections. The old non-presidential independent deadline was in April. The new deadline is early August.

The bill only applies to incumbent members of the legislature who want to run for re-election but who are barred from a party primary by that party’s executive committee. The motivation for the bill is that earlier this year, the Democratic Party barred Representative John DeBerry, Jr., from running in the August 6 Democratic primary. Because of the new law, DeBerry can run for re-election as an independent, and he is doing that.

The Tennessee non-presidential petition deadline for all other individuals remains in April. That deadline was already legally shaky, and now it is very shaky.

Kamala Harris is First Democratic Party Nominee for President or Vice-President from a Western State

Posted on by August 11, 2020
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Kamala Harris, the 2020 Democratic Party vice-presidential nominee, is the first resident of a western state to be on the Democratic Party national ticket in history. This is statistically odd, because the United States has had western states in the union ever since 1850.

By “west”, I mean Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.