On August 3, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen held a status conference in Jorgensen v Dunlap, 1:20cv-272. This case asks for ballot access relief in Maine for the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. The state’s brief is due August 10 and any reply is due the next day. A decision is likely by the middle of August.
The Secretary of State will announce on Friday, August 7, whether Jorgensen has enough signatures. If she does, the case will be moot.
This story covers the Kanye West petition effort in Wisconsin and other states.
On August 3, the Fourth Circuit refused to rehear Buscemi v Bell, 19-2355. This is the July 9 decision that said North Carolina’s March 3 independent presidential candidate petition is constitutional. The Fourth Circuit decision is contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze, which said that Ohio’s March 20 deadline was unconstitutional. In 52 years of federal jurisprudence on ballot access, there has never been such a flagrant contempt for U.S. Supreme Court precedent from any Circuit Court.
On July 29, 2020, Leonard Peltier withdrew as the vice-presidential nominee for the Party for Socialism & Liberation. Here is his statement. The new nominee is Sunil Freeman.
An Arizona state trial court has removed a statewide initiative from the ballot because, the judge felt, the petition did not accurately describe the measure. See this story.
