Although the American Independent Party, one of California’s six qualified parties, chose its national ticket three days ago, no general media has reported the party’s choice, so far.
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On August 17, a Yahoo! News poll for the presidential race was released. It shows: Joe Biden 49%; Donald Trump 38%; other 3%; undecided 8%; will not vote 2%. The poll provides age categories. The “other” vote is much higher for young voters than older voters. The “other” is 7% for persons age 18-29; 5% for persons 30-44; 1% for persons 45-64; and 0% for persons age 65 and over. See here; scroll down to question nine. Thanks to Politial Wire for the link.
On August 17, a Libertarian Party ballot access case in New Mexico was settled. A final order from a U.S. District Court documents that the New Mexico Secretary of State now agrees that Stephen Curtis received enough write-in votes in the June Libertarian primary to qualify for a spot on the general election ballot. As a write-in candidate in a primary, the law required not only that he receive more votes than any other candidate for the nomination, but that he receive at least 230 write-ins.
The four-page order also says “The Secretary of State will in the future ensure that all county clerks properly account for all write-in votes on the proper tally sheet in subsequent elections.” Here is the order in Curtis v Toulouse Oliver, 1:20cv-748.
The Libertarian Party’s chances of polling at least 5% of the total vote cast in November 2020 for one of its nominees is now enhanced. It isn’t likely that the party will poll 5% for president or U.S. Senate, but it has a good chance of polling 5% for State Court of Appeals. Minor party nominees receive higher percentages of the vote when they are running for an office in which the typical voter doesn’t care too much about who wins. In 2018 the New Mexico Libertarian Party received 5.77% for Land Commissioner.
The Florida ballot access case filed by the Independent Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation will proceed next year, toward a determination as to whether the law is constitutional or not. The law says that a ballot-qualified party cannot place a presidential nominee on the ballot unless it is either is recognized by the Federal Election Commission or unless it submits a petition of 132,781 signatures, due July 15.
The U.S. District Court and the Eleventh Circuit denied injunctive relief earlier this year, but that does not necessarily mean the lawsuit can’t win declaratory relief. The plaintiffs decided not to expedite the case, so it will proceed in 2021.
On August 10, U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers, a Clinton appointee, issued an opinion in Nelson v Warner, 3:19cv-898. This is the Democratic Party’s lawsuit against the West Virginia law that puts the party that carried the presidential election in the last election on the top line of the ballot for all its nominees. The opinion declares the law unconstitutional. The state has appealed to the Fourth Circuit. On August 11, Judge Chambers refused to stay his own order, which had directed the state to come up with a neutral method to determine ballot order.
The Fourth Circuit case number is 20-1860. The states of Georgia and Texas have filed amicus briefs on the side of the state of West Virginia.