Back on April 1, a new party qualified in Maryland called the Working Class Party. It got its signatures before the health crisis. See this story.
12
This Houston Chronicle story says the Republican Party of Texas has sued the Mayor of Houston, who used his emergency powers to say that the state party could not have an indoor state convention in Houston with thousands of people in attendance. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
Among other business, the state convention of any ballot-qualified party chooses the party’s presidential elector nominees, in presidential election years. Here is the Complaint in Republican Party of Texas v City of Houston.
On July 9, the Howie Hawkins campaign determined that the campaign has raised enough small donations to qualify for primary season matching funds. To get the funds, a candidate seeking the presidential nomination of any party (recognized by the FEC or not) must raise at least $5,000 from each of 20 states.
No other presidential candidate in 2020 has been trying to achieve this goal. Generally major party presidential candidates no longer seek the funds, because it comes with restrictions about how much they can spend in each state.
On June 9, Kyle Kopitke, independent presidential candidate, filed this request for rehearing in Buscemi v Bell, 19-2355. The request for rehearing is confined to the issues involving independent presidential candidates. The Fourth Circuit on July 6, 2020 had upheld North Carolina’s independent presidential petition deadline of March 3, which utterly contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780.
In Anderson v Celebrezze, Ohio’s independent presidential petition deadline of March 20 was unconstitutional, even though Ohio only required 5,000 signatures. North Carolina’s independent presidential petition deadline is not only earlier than Ohio’s was, the number of signatures is 70,666.
The Fourth Circuit’s recent opinion also contradicts a 1980 Fourth Circuit opinion, Anderson v Morris, 636 F.2d 55, which struck down Maryland’s March petition deadline. It also contradicts a 1980 U.S. District Court decision that struck down North Carolina’s April petition deadline. Greaves v North Carolina State Board of Elections, 508 F.Supp. 78.
On July 9, U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor L. Ross issued an order in Cooper v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:20cv-1312. It cuts the number of signatures needed by minor party and independent candidates for all offices to 70% of normal. She wrote that although petitioning in late March through mid-May was virtually impossible, the state reopened in mid-May. She derived the 70% figure by applying the amount of time that was lost. Georgia candidate petitions for the general election must be completed within the six months prior to the deadline.
The state had already moved the petition deadline to August 14, and that was another factor that persuaded her not to offer additional relief.
The presidential petition will now be 5,250 signatures. Here is the 24-page order.