Three members of the Libertarian Party were elected or re-elected to local Wisconsin public office on April 7. They are: Brian Defferding to the Winnebago County Board; Joe Prohaska to the Appleton city council; and Robert Reynolds to the Edgerton city council.
This news story says that Maine Governor Janet Mills has not relaxed notarization requirements for independent candidate petitions, and that all by itself is a major impediment to petitioning.
Only thirteen states require notarization of petitions for candidates. In Pennsylvania, a U.S. District Court invalidated the requirement that candidate petitions be notarized. Green Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, e.d., 2:14cv-3299 (decision of March 2, 2015).
Thanks to several people for the link to the Maine news story.
On April 14, U.S. District Court Judge Dominic Lanza, a Trump appointee, heard Arizonans for Fair Elections v Hobbs, 2:20cv-658. This case was filed by groups supporting various statewide initiatives. They argue that they should be allowed to collect electronic signatures.
The Arizona Republican Party and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed amici briefs arguing against the initiative proponents.
Here is a newspaper story about the hearing.
On April 10, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed HB 1103. It lets local governments use ranked choice voting for their own elections.
On April 10, Maine’s Governor Janet Mills extended the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from May 26 to June 26. She did not change the independent presidential petition deadline, which continues to be August 3.
This change was included in the same order that changed the date of the non-presidential primary from June 9 to July 14. Here is the order.
