On July 17, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes, a Reagan appointee, ruled that the Texas Republican Party could hold its state convention in-person in Houston. Hotze v ABbott, s.d., 4:20cv-2104. But on July 18, the Fifth Circuit stayed the order of the U.S. District Court. In the Fifth Circuit the case is called In re Mayor Sylvester Turner, 20-20379. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
This news story says Kanye West is circulating a petition to be an independent presidential candidate in South Carolina. The story says the deadline is July 15, but actually it is July 20.
The Working Class Party became ballot-qualified in Maryland in March 2020. Therefore, it is listed as a choice on voter registration forms in Maryland. The Maryland State Elections Board tallies registration each month. The Working Class Party, starting from zero, is slowly increasing. In April it had 20 registered members; in May it had 61; and in June it had 246.
The Working Class Party is also on the ballot in Michigan, but Michigan does not have registration by party, so the party has no registered members in Michigan.
On July 17, Gloria La Riva, the presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism & Liberation, filed a federal lawsuit against the District of Columbia presidential petition requirement. The District requires the presidential nominees of unqualified parties, and independent presidential candidates, to submit over 5,000 valid signatures. But the D.C. law was changed earlier this year to lower the other partisan districtwide petitions from 3,000 signatures to 250 signatures, for 2020 only, due to the health crisis. It is puzzling why the law was not also eased for presidential petitions.
Here is the Complaint in La Riva v D.C. Board of Elections, 1:20cv-1937.
On July 17, the two Florida ballot-qualified parties that are not permitted to nominate for president (unless they submit 132,781 signatures), filed this reply brief in Independent Party of Florida v Lee, 20-12107. This case is pending in the Eleventh Circuit. Neither the Independent Party nor the Party for Socialism and Liberation are recognized by the Federal Election Commission as a “national committee.”
