On October 31, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed AB 149, which makes it easier for a qualified party to nominate a slate of candidates for presidential elector. He also signed AB 35, which establishes a procedure for independent candidates to withdraw. See this press release from the Governor.
Texas holds a special election on November 4 to fill the vacancy in the 18th U.S. House district. Sixteen candidates are on the ballot. Candidates need either a filing fee of $3,125, or 500 signatures to get on the ballot in Texas. Here is the candidate list.
There are no party nominees. Seven Democrats, five Republicans, two independents, one Green, and one American Solidarity candidate are on the ballot (she is Reyna Anderson, and her ballot label is “independent.”) If no one gets 50% there will be a run-off.
On the same day, Texas is holding a special election to fill the vacancy in the Ninth State Senate district. That race has two Republicans and a Democrat.
On October 31, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an opinion in League of United Latin American Citizens v Executive Office of the President, a case filed earlier this year in the District of Columbia, 1:25cv-946. The Opinion says that President Trump’s executive order on elections is void because the Constitution doesn’t give the president the authority to issue Executive Orders on the subjects of voter registration and election administration.
The Executive Order said that applicants who use the federal Voter Registration Form must attach proof of citizenship. It also said that ballots must arrive in election offices by the close of election day or they are void. Here is the Opinion.
On October 29, the Wisconsin legislature sent AB 149 to Governor Tony Evers. The bill had passed in early October. It improves ballot access for qualified parties, by removing the requirement that qualified parties must choose their presidential elector candidates at a meeting attended by their legislative nominees. Frequently qualified parties don’t have any nominees for the legislature. For example, in 2024, the Green, Libertarian and Constitution Parties had no nominees for legislature.
The Democratic Party tried to keep the Green Party off the presidential ballot in 2024 using this law, but fortunately the State Supreme Court blocked that move. Nevertheless, it is good that the law has been eased by the legislature this year. The bill says the party chair can nominate presidential elector candidates.
On October 30, Jane Nelson, Texas Secretary of State and a Republican herself, filed this brief in Hunt v State, n.d., 2:25cv-200. Her brief says the Republican Party’s attempt to have the open primary declared unconstitutional is procedurally flawed. She says the party hasn’t completed the process for establishing that it doesn’t want an open primary. She also says the case was filed too soon, because the party is only requesting a closed primary itself starting in 2028, not 2026.
