Last year the South Carolina Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit against the law that requires voter registration applicants to disclose their full Social Security number. On January 16, the state agreed to settle the lawsuit, and require only the last four digits. The case was South Carolina Democratic Party v Andino, 3:19cv-3308. Here is the Democratic Party’s dismissal of the case.

Now the only two states that require the full social security number are Virginia and Tennessee. Normally the 1974 federal Privacy Act would prevent states from requiring the full SSN. However the three states mentioned in this blog post had been requiring the full SSN since before the 1974 federal act took effect, so they were exempt from the federal law.

On January 16, the Kentucky Senate passed SB 3. It moves the gubernatorial election from the odd year before a presidential election, to a presidential election year. The vote was 31-3.

Currently five states have gubernatorial elections in odd years: Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.

On January 22, U.S. District Court William O. Bertelsman, a Carter appointee, struck down a Kentucky ballot access law. Sweeney v Crigler, e.d., 2:19cv-46. The law, passed last year, requires independent candidates, and the nominees of parties that nominate by convention, to file a declaration of candidacy in January of the election year. The law only applies to candidates for state and local partisan office, not federal office.

The Libertarian Party filed the lawsuit, arguing that minor parties are not able to recruit candidates so early in the election year. The judge agreed. Here is the 16-page decision.

This decision will be useful in other pending lawsuits against early deadlines for minor party and independent candidates. Such cases are pending in Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and Texas.