The only independent presidential candidate who submitted in Wyoming this year is Brock Pierce. The Secretary of State has determined that is has enough valid signatures.
The qualified parties in Wyoming are Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Constitution.
Ballot Access News
August 2020 – Volume 36, Number 3
| This issue was printed on white paper. |
Table of Contents
On August 24, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston, a Bush Jr. appointee, refused to give injunctive relief to Marshall Wilson. Wilson v Justice, s.d., 2:20cv-526. The plaintiff is an independent candidate for Governor who probably would have got on the ballot except for the health crisis. He is also a state legislator, a former Republican who is now a registered independent. The order is only one page and does not explain the basis for the decision. A more complete opinion will probably be issued later.
On August 28, the Virginia Board of Elections said that Kanye West’s independent presidential petition is valid. Although last month a U.S. District Court had lowered the requirement due to the health crisis from 5,000 signatures to 2,500 signatures, that order only included the four plaintiff minor parties. Kanye West could have filed a separate lawsuit to benefit from the 2,500 figure, but he did not. Instead he collected 5,000 valid signatures. Thanks to Mark Seidenberg for this news.
On July 10, the Texas Democratic Party lost its lawsuit over the order of candidates on the general election ballot. Miller v Hughs, w.d., 1:19cv-1071. The law says the nominees of the party that won the last gubernatorial election are all listed first on the ballot. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel, a Bush Jr. appointee, said that such cases cannot be adjudicated by federal courts, because their is no objective standard for a fair system. He supported this conclusion by citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision Rucho v Common Cause, the 2019 decision that said federal courts cannot adjudicate partisan gerrymandering lawsuits because there are no objective standards for imaging a fair redistricting process.
The idea that ballot order lawsuit cannot be adjudicated because there is no method for a fair system is obviously wrong. There are two fair methods for writing a law on the order of candidates on the ballot, and approximately one-third of the states use one or the other. Either the state can hold a drawing to determine order of candidates on the ballot, or it can rotate the names of candidates so that each candidate has an equal chance to be on the top line in a share of all the precincts. For example, under rotation, if there are four candidates for a particular race, each candidate will be on the top line in one-fourth of the precincts.
There have been federal court decisions on the constitutionality of various laws on this subject since the 1960’s, and no other federal court had ever come to this conclusion. The Democratic Party asked for reconsideration, but it was denied on August 19. It seems highly likely the party will appeal.
