On August 8, the Alabama Libertarian Party executive committee voted to appeal the party’s lawsuit over access to the list of registered voters. The U.S. District Court had upheld the state’s policy of giving the list free to the qualified parties, but not to unqualified parties that are petitioning. The U.S. District Court decision contradicts a summary affirmance of the U.S. Supreme Court that is perfectly on-point, Socialist Workers Party v Rockefeller. The U.S. District Court decision also contradicts every lower court precedent on the same issue.
At the Washington top-two primary of August 4, Libertarian Anthony Welti received 13.4% of the vote in a three-way race, but that was third place, so he cannot run in the November election. His opponents were Democratic incumbent Mike Kreidler, and Republican Chirayu Avinash Patel.
This is the largest number of votes for a minor party or independent candidate for any office in Washington, in a race with both a Democrat and a Republican also running, since Ross Perot’s 1992 showing as an independent presidential candidate.
At the Washington August 4 top-two primary, eleven candidates were on the ballot for Lieutenant Governor, including five Republicans. Although the five Republicans together polled 43.6% of the vote, two Democrats placed first and second. Thus no Republican will be on the November ballot for Lieutenant Governor.
Washington held its top-two primary on August 4. In the only U.S. race with no incumbent, the Tenth District, two Democrats placed first and second, so they will be the only candidates on the November 3 ballot. Eight Republicans ran. Together they polled 41.3% of the vote, but because there were so many of them, they split up the Republican vote. The Tenth District includes the southern half of Tacoma, as well as the state capitol, Olympia.
In the other U.S. House races in Washington, there will be one Democrat and one Republican on the November ballot. Libertarians ran in three different districts, but they did not qualify for the November ballot. No other minor parties had any candidates. There were a few independents with labels, such as “Congress Sucks” and “Essential Workers” but none of them got more than 1%.
The independent presidential petition in Wisconsin for Howie Hawkins, Green Party nominee, has been challenged. The basis is that while the petitioning was underway, Hawkins’ vice-presidential running mate, Angela Walker, changed her residence address within South Carolina. The challenge says the petition is invalid because the address she listed is no longer her true address.
The individual who filed the challenge is represented by an attorney.