On August 24, the Montana Secretary of State asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the order of the Montana Supreme Court that removed the Green Party from the ballot. Stapleton v Montana Democratic Party, 20A33. Here is the Secretary of State’s brief. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
On August 24, a Maine state trial judge ruled that the Republican Party-backed referendum on ranked choice voting for president has enough valid signatures. Because it is now back on the ballot, ranked choice voting can’t be used in the upcoming election for president. In November, voters will vote again on whether to use ranked choice voting for president, but in the meantime it is not legally in force for that office. It is in force for Congress.
The basis for the ruling is that the Secretary of State had improperly invalidated signatures because the circulator in the town where they were gathered was not registered in that town. See this story.
The story does not mention that there is a separate state court lawsuit on whether the petitioning period for the referendum had already expired before the Republican Party circulated that petition.
On August 24, Marshall Wilson filed this reply brief in his West Virginia ballot access case. He is an independent candidate for Governor, and also a sitting state legislator. Wilson v Justice, s.d., 2:20cv-526. The decision could now be released at any time.
On August 24, the 336 delegates to the in-person Republican national convention in Charlotte unanimously nominated Donald Trump for president. There were six delegates from each state and territory. However, this limited number of delegates used proxy voting, so that the vote was 2,550 for Trump, and none for anyone else. Thanks to Tony Roza for ths information.
Jo Jorgensen is the only presidential candidate who submitted an Alabama petition this year. The deadline was August 20. The petition, which required 5,000 signatures, has already been verified.
Alabama voters will see three presidential candidates on their ballot, the smallest number in that state since 1964. In 1964, the only choices were Barry Goldwater and unpledged segregationist Alabama Democratic electors.
