On June 15, proponents of a Georgia local recall filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the law that says only residents of the jurisdiction may circulate petitions to recall a local official. Malone v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:20cv-2513. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Leigh M. May, an Obama appointee. The plaintiffs are requesting expedited relief on their request for injunctive relief. Here is the complaint.
UPDATE: here is the brief.
On June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Arizona Libertarian Party v Hobbs, 19-757. The Ninth Circuit had upheld a law that kept all Libertarians off their own party’s primary ballot for all congressional and state office in 2016 and 2018 (and has done so again in 2020). As a result, there are no minor party candidates for Congress in Arizona this year for Congress (because there are no other minor parties on the ballot in Arizona).
The U.S. Supreme Court has not accepted a cert petition on ballot access filed by a minor party or independent candidate since 1991.
UPDATE: see this article about the refusal to hear the case, at Arizona Law.
On June 12, the Vermont legislature passed a bill providing that in 2020, all registered voters will receive a postal ballot. See this story.
The Reform Party had set its presidential convention for June 13, but the party has postponed it to an undetermined date. The party is only on the ballot in Florida and Mississippi. The convention was going to be virtual.
UPDATE: the convention will be on June 20. Thanks to Independent Political Report for that news.
Law Professor Justin Levitt has compiled this list of all known election law lawsuits that relate to Covid-19 and the health crisis. The list is contained in his blog post at the election law blog.
