This Montana news story says the state Green Party disavows most of the candidates running for congress or state office in its own primary. If Montana law allowed new or small qualified parties to nominate by convention, this problem would not exist. The problem is made worse by the fact that Montana has an open primary. Any registered voter can pay a filing fee to get on the primary ballot of any party.
Tentative results from the Independent Party of Oregon show that Joe Biden won its party-administered presidential primary. This probably means that the party will nominate Biden. Oregon permits fusion, so Biden would have the ballot label “Democratic, Independent”.
On May 6, the Ninth Circuit dismissed the lawsuit Citizens for Fair Representation v Newsom, 18-17458. This is the case filed in 2017 that argues the population of California legislative districts is so huge, ordinary residents of California have no realistic chance to communicate with their legislators. State Senate districts in California have over 1,000,000 residents; Assembly districts 500,000.
Here is the six-page opinion, which says none of the plaintiffs have standing. It will not be published. Thanks to Kevin Sabo for this news.
The Independent Party, which is on the ballot for most state and federal offices in Connecticut, but not all offices, has been allowed to intervene on the side of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut, in the ballot access case. Libertarian Party of Connecticut v Merrill, 3:20cv-467.
On May 19, the Independent Party filed this brief in support of injunctive relief. Thanks to Tim Cotton for this news.
On May 19, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., a Clinton appointee, issued an order easing certain requirements for Ohio initiatives to get on the ballot. Thompson v Devine, s.d., 2:20cv-2129. The order extends the petition deadline from July 1 to July 31. It allows electronic signatures. And it dispenses with the need for a witness signature from the circulator of the petition sheet. The relief only extends to the initiatives being circulated by the groups that brought the lawsuit.
This is the first federal court decision easing ballot access requirements for initiatives in connection with the current health crisis.
