On August 17, Democrats sued the Texas Green Party and won a court order in state court, ordering party leaders to tell election officials that most of their 2020 nominees are “not qualified.” On Wednesday, the courts removed the candidates. The basis is that they didn’t pay the filing fees. But the law requiring candidates of convention parties to pay filing fees was enjoined a few months ago, although then the State Appeals Court stayed that ruling. See this story.

The ruling has no effect on the presidential race, but it removes all the Green Party’s other statewide nominees. At any time, the other panel of the State Court of Appeals could issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the filing fee.

Some individuals and groups that supported Bernie Sanders for president this year, and in 2016, are not satisfied with the Democratic Party. They plan to organize their own Peoples Party, and contest the 2024 presidential election. Marianne Williamson, who sought the Democratic nomination this year, has joined them. See this story. Thanks to Tim Phares for the link.

On August 19, the Montana Supreme Court issued an order, affirming the decision of a lower state court that the Green Party should be removed from the Montana ballot. The Montana Supreme Court said it would explain later. The lower court had removed the Green Party because approximately 600 signers of the Green Party petition had signed a form asking that their signatures be removed from the party’s petition.

The Montana election code has no provision for signers of a party petition to remove their names. The lower state court said because there is such a provision for initiatives, the implication is that all types of petition are covered.

The only reason the subtraction of approximately 600 signatures mattered, is that the Montana party petition has an unconstitutional, unequal distribution requirement. Although the party petition had 13,000 signatures, and only 5,000 are required, the subtractions brought down the number in one of the legislative districts.

Whether the removal of the party from the ballot violates dues process is also pending in U.S. District Court. If the state precedent is allowed to stand, no new party in the future will ever be able to get on the Montana ballot with safety. The precedent will be that even after the party has been certified for the ballot, and given its own primary, several months later opponents of that party can erase its ballot status.

Montana Green Party activists are reporting that some of the party’s petitioners were browbeaten into removing their names, and some of them are willing to testify that they do not want their names removed. But it is already too late to get this evidence into the state court proceeding.