On August 7, Joseph Kishore, Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate, voluntarily dismissed his federal lawsuit against the California independent presidential candidate petition requirement, as applied during the health crisis. Kishore v Newsom. Two days earlier, the Ninth Circuit had refused to expedite his appeal. Also, on July 27, the Ninth Circuit had also voted not to expedite the appeal. The U.S. District Court had denied injunctive relief earlier in July.
On August 1, the Revolutionary Communist Party issued a press release, calling on U.S. voters to vote for Joe Biden as a means to defeat President Donald Trump. The Revolutionary Communist Party has never run its own nominees for public office, nor has it ever before made a recommendation as to whom people should support.
On August 8, the Alabama Libertarian Party executive committee voted to appeal the party’s lawsuit over access to the list of registered voters. The U.S. District Court had upheld the state’s policy of giving the list free to the qualified parties, but not to unqualified parties that are petitioning. The U.S. District Court decision contradicts a summary affirmance of the U.S. Supreme Court that is perfectly on-point, Socialist Workers Party v Rockefeller. The U.S. District Court decision also contradicts every lower court precedent on the same issue.
At the Washington top-two primary of August 4, Libertarian Anthony Welti received 13.4% of the vote in a three-way race, but that was third place, so he cannot run in the November election. His opponents were Democratic incumbent Mike Kreidler, and Republican Chirayu Avinash Patel.
This is the largest number of votes for a minor party or independent candidate for any office in Washington, in a race with both a Democrat and a Republican also running, since Ross Perot’s 1992 showing as an independent presidential candidate.
At the Washington August 4 top-two primary, eleven candidates were on the ballot for Lieutenant Governor, including five Republicans. Although the five Republicans together polled 43.6% of the vote, two Democrats placed first and second. Thus no Republican will be on the November ballot for Lieutenant Governor.
