California Cases on Independent Presidential Petition Move Ahead

There are two lawsuits pending over whether California should grant ballot access relief to presidential candidates who want to petition onto the ballot. They are in different U.S. District Courts, one in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles. Judges in both cases have asked the state to respond by July 10, Friday.

The case in Los Angeles, filed by Socialist Equality presidential candidate Joseph Kishore, will be heard on July 20. The case in San Francisco, filed by Constitution Party nominee Don Blankenship, doesn’t have a court date set yet.

The case in Los Angeles is Kishore v Newsom, 2:20cv-5859. The case in San Francisco is Blankenship v Newsom, 3:20cv-4479.

Don Blankenship Files Lawsuit Against California Independent Presidential Petition Procedure

On July 7, Don Blankenship, presidential nominee of the Constitution Party, filed a federal lawsuit against the California law that requires petitioning candidates for president to get 196,964 signatures during the period mid-April through August 7. Blankenship v Newsom, n.d., 4:20cv-4479. Here is the Complaint. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg, an Obama appointee.