On June 16, the Independent Party, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, filed an appeal in their Florida ballot access case. Independent Party of Florida v Lee, 20-12107. The two parties challenge the law that says even though they are qualified, they can’t run a presidential candidate unless they submit 132,781 valid signatures by July 15, or unless they are recognized by the Federal Election Commission as a national committee.
The U.S. District Court had refused injunctive relief.
The Eighth Circuit is expediting Miller v Thurston, 20-2095. This is the case over whether initiatives should get ballot access relief due to the health crisis. The U.S. District Court had allowed electronic signatures, and eliminated the need for notarization of each sheet. Also the ruling said sheets don’t need to be signed by a circulator. Miller v Thurston, 20-2095. The three briefs will all be submitted by June 25. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On the night of June 15, the city council of Albany, California, voted to ask voters whether to use ranked choice voting for city elections. The measure will be on the November 2020 ballot. Thanks to Jim Lindsay for this news.
On June 15, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson, an Obama appointee, issued an order in Pavek v Simon, 0:19cv-3000. This is the case filed by the Democratic Party over the order of candidates on the general election ballot. The existing law says the nominees of the qualified parties appear above the independent candidates and the nominees of the unqualified parties. The existing law puts the qualified party that got the fewest votes in the last election on the top line, and puts the qualified party that got the most votes in the last election on the bottom line, although above the independent candidates.
Minnesota currently has four qualified parties: Democratic-Farmer-Labor, Republican, Legal Marijuana Now, and Grassroots-Legalize Marijuana.
Here is the order. It is possible the Democratic Party won’t gain any actual advantage from this ruling. Whereas before the Republican Party was listed on the top line in all races in which either of the two marijuana parties have no nominee (which is the great majority of the partisan races), the lottery may produce a result that still puts Republicans above Democrats.
The order says that the state should hold a lottery among the qualified parties, to determine the order for their nominees. The order rejected the other alternative, to rotate all the candidates (even the independent candidates and the nominees of the unqualified parties) within each precinct, so that every candidate would appear on the top line in a certain share of precincts. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Working Families Party has finished its petition for party status in New Mexico. As a new party, it will nominate by convention. This is the first new state in which the WFP has sought party status, since it petitioned in Oregon a decade ago.
