The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue its opinions in the presidential elector cases, on Monday, June 29. However the Court will release opinions on Tuesday, June 30.
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On Sunday, June 28, Poland held a presidential election. Eleven candidates were on the ballot. No one got a majority, so on July 12, a runoff will be held between incumbent President Andrzej Duda (who got 43.7% in the first round) and Rafal Trzaskowski (who got 30.3% in the first round).
On June 26, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill, a Clinton appointee, issued a decision in Reclaim Idaho v Little, 1:20cv-268. This case concerns ballot access relief for a statewide initiative, due to the health crisis. The decision orders the state to either cut the number of signatures required, or to extend the petition deadline by 48 days. The existing requirement is 55,057 signatures, which were due May 1, 2020.
Here is the 27-page decision.
The state quickly asked for a stay. Here is the state’s motion in favor of a stay. Chances are the stay will be denied, and then the state will ask for Ninth Circuit relief.
Rhode Island requires 1,000 signatures for an independent presidential candidate, and candidates may choose a partisan label beyond just “independent”. Howie Hawkins will petition in Rhode Island using the label “Independent Left” instead of “Green”. The officers of the state Green Party are opposed to having the Green Party run a presidential nominee this year. The Rhode Island Green Party is not ballot-qualified and unqualified parties have no ability in Rhode Island to protect their name. Hawkins could have petitioned using the “Green” label but chose not to.
On Sunday, June 28, Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik died. He had been the Socialist Party’s presidential nominee in 2016. Also, he was the candidate-plaintiff in a lawsuit against the California law that won’t let members of unqualified parties have their “party preference” on the ballot for congress and partisan state office. He basically won the lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit. The panel did not strike down the law, but sent it back to the U.S. District Court for a trial. But he had to dismiss the lawsuit at that point because of his debilitating liver cancer.