Opponents of ballot status for Kanye West have asked the Idaho Secretary of State to remove West from the ballot as an independent presidential candidate, on the grounds that he is a registered Republican in Wyoming. See this story.

This same issue arose in Idaho in 2016, when the Secretary of State determined that Darrell Castle could be an independent presidential candidate in Idaho, even though he was affiliated with the national Constitution Party and was its presidential nominee that year.

The true candidates in November are presidential elector candidates. Presidential candidates’ names appear on the November ballot, not as candidates, but as identifiers for competing slates of elector candidates. Therefore it doesn’t make sense to let the party registration of a presidential candidate affect his or her ballot position. The electors have a right to tell the public whom they would vote for if they were elected to the electoral college. No presidential candidate in history had ever been barred from a ballot on the basis of how he or she was registered, until an Arizona trial court earlier this year said West could not be on the Arizona ballot because of his registration. But when he appealed, the State Supreme Court did not keep him off on that basis; instead it kept him off because his presidential elector candidates had not filled out a campaign finance form.

Other presidential candidates who used the Idaho independent presidential procedure even though they were affiliated with political parties have been Jill Stein, a registered Green in Massachusetts who appeared in 2012 and 2016 in Idaho as an independent; Rocky Anderson, who used the Idaho independent procedure even though he was a registered member of the Justice Party in Utah; and John Anderson, who used it in 1980 even though he was affiliated with the Illinois Republican Party throughout calendar year 1980. Thanks to Gregg Keller for the link. UPDATE: news reports say that Secretary of State Lawrence Denney says he should not have been put West on the ballot, even though Denney was the same Secretary of State who put Darrell Castle on the ballot as an independent in 2016. Denney also says he thinks it is too late to remove West from the ballot.

At the Alaska Democratic primary last month, the winners for both the U.S. Senate seat, and the U.S. House seat, are registered independents. Al Gross is running for U.S. Senate, and Alysse Galvin for U.S. House.

For both of them, there will be a “U” after their names, in parenthenses. Then, to the right of each of their names, will be the words “Alaska Democratic Party nominee.” “U” is the Alaska abbreviation for “independent”; it stands for “unaffiliated.”

If either is elected, each will decide whether to be listed in the Congressional Directory as “Democratic” or “independent.” It is thought that Galvin has a moderate likelihood of winning her election.

On September 8, the Texas State Court of Appeals, 14th district, issued an opinion in Hughs v Dikeman, 14-19-00969-CV. This is the case filed last year by the Texas Libertarian Party against the 2019 law that says candidates from convention parties must pay the same filing fee that candidates running in a major party primary must pay.

The State Court of Appeals says it is constitutional to require nominees of convention parties to pay filing fees, but that the Secretary of State was wrong to rule that anyone seeking the nomination of a convention party must pay the fee. Therefore, the Court upholds the lower court injunction against the new law, as applied to 2020.

The State Court of Appeals did not give any state interest in the new filing fees except to recite the stock phrase about guarding against voter confusion and frivolous candidates. The evidence does not support these conclusions. The evidence will be more thorough in the federal case that is now pending against the new fees. That case is Miller v Hughs, w.d., 1:19cv-700.

This decision ought to mean that the Texas Green Party candidates who were removed from the ballot earlier should be able to get back on the ballot. They were running for congress and state office. The Texas Supreme Court had put the Libertarians back on the ballot on Saturday, September 5, on the narrow grounds that the Republican Party challenge to them had been filed too late. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.