The issue of whether the Texas Republican Party can have its state convention in Houston is now before the Texas Supreme Court. A trial state court had ruled that the mayor of Houston was correct to stop the convention.
According to this story, the Texas Attorney General has sided with the city of Houston, and against the state Republican Party.
On July 10, Joshua Eisen, an independent congressional candidate in New York, filed a federal lawsuit for ballot access relief due to the health crisis. Eisen v Cuomo, s.d., 7:20cv-5121. The Governor’s proclamation of June 30, 2020, set the petition requirement at 2,450, to be collected July 1-30. Here is the brief.
The lawsuit notes that when Governor Cuomo set the primary petition requirement for U.S. House, it lowered it to only 30% of the normal requirement, but independents must collect 70% of the normal requirement. The lawsuit asks for a lower number of signatures, a later deadline, and the ability to obtain electronic signatures.
Eisen is running in the 17th district, the district currently held by Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Philip M. Halpern, a Trump appointee.
The Federal Election Commission has just published an updated version of “Combined Federal/State Disclosure and Election Directory”. This free book has the contact information for state election administration offices. Here is a link to the on-line version. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news. The book is usually 150 pages.
On the evening of Thursday, July 9, a Texas state trial court refused to order the city of Houston to allow the Republican Party to hold an in-person state convention in Houston. See this story. The convention is supposed to start on Thursday, July 16. The party is appealing to the Texas Supreme Court.
On July 10, the Democratic National Committee announced that delegates to the national convention can vote electronically for president, vice-president, and platform changes. Each delegate will be e-mailed a ballot and that delegate can fill out the ballot and return it electronically. See this story. The voting period will be August 3-15.
There were some Libertarian Party activists who argued that the Libertarian Party needed a physical convention to nominate for president and vice-president, and that to go without a physical meeting risked breaking the election laws of a few states. The Democratic Party decision seems to show that those fears were groundless. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.
