On March 16, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it is postponing all its remaining March 2016 oral arguments, until some unspecified later date. This includes the case Carney v Adams, 19-309, the case over the Delaware law that says most judicial appointments can only be made to individuals who are registered Republicans or registered Democrats. The oral argument was set for March 25 but now it is delayed.
On March 13, Hillary Clinton filed this 26-page brief, explaining why Tulsi Gabbard’s defamation lawsuit should be dismissed. The case is Gabbard v Clinton, s.d.N.Y., 1:20cv-558.
On March 14, Governor Andrew Cuomo cut the New York primary petition requirements to 30% of normal. However, he also moved the petition deadline from April 2 to March 17, 5 p.m. See this story.
The order apparently has no effect on general election petitions. The petitioning period for them runs from early April to late May. That deadline had been in August until the 2019 session of the legislature moved it to May. That deadline is almost certainly unconstitutional, but so far no lawsuits have been filed against that deadline, as far as is known.
On March 14, the Georgia Secretary of State said he has moved the presidential primary from March 24 to May 19. The state was already expecting to hold its non-presidential primary on May 19, so that day’s ballot will now include president as well as other partisan office. Thanks to Mike Drucker for this news.
On March 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “Normally you go door to door with a petition and you speak to the person who opens the door and you ask them to sign a petition. This is not the best time to be sending people door to door. It’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to do. I don’t know the specific solution but I know it’s something that we have to address.” See this story.
The primary petitioning window opened February 25 and ends April 2.
