On May 25, U.S. District Court Judge Paul K. Holmes issued an opinion in Miller v Thurston, w.d., 5:20cv-5070, a case over petitions for initiatives in Arkansas. The opinion suspends the law that requires all initiative petitions to include a signature of the petitioner who asked voters to sign the petition. In other words, the signer becomes his or her own circulator. This enables the group that is sponsoring the initiative to electronically distribute the petition to voters willing to sign it. They can print the petition blank from their own home printer. The order also suspends the law that says the petition sheets must be notarized.

The opinion is 25 pages. It upholds the July 3 deadline for the petition to be submitted. The lawsuit had been filed by a group that supports an initiative for a nonpartisan redistricting commission. The order applies to all initiatives, not just that initiative.

On the afternoon of May 26, Ohio initiative proponents filed a petition for rehearing en banc in the Sixth Circuit in Thompson v Devine, 20-3526. It is impressive that they were able to file such a document, only hours after the original Sixth Circuit decision came down. The issue is the ability of people to qualify an initiative during the health crisis. UPDATE: Here is the rehearing request.

On May 21, the Louisiana House passed HB 167. It relaxes the deadline for qualified parties to certify their presidential and vice-presidential nominees from the third Tuesday in August, to the fourth Tuesday in August. For 2020, that would change the deadline from August 18 to August 25.