On December 27, the Census Bureau released estimates of 2020 population for each state. Ten states are expected to lose one U.S. House seat. Seven states are expected to gain one or more seats. See this article.
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On December 27, the Michigan Republican Party filed this brief in the Sixth Circuit in Daunt v Benson, 19-2377. This is the case in which the Republican Party challenges the Michigan Citizens Redistricting Commission passed by the voters in November 2018. The party argues that the rules by which individuals become a member of the Redistricting Commission violate the First Amendment.
The Secretary of State, who is a Democrat, has already begun the process by which individuals apply for membership on the Commission.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, will hear Level the Playing Field v Federal Election Commission, 19-5117, on Monday, February 24, 2020. This is the case over presidential general election debates, and whether the FEC has failed to enforce federal campaign finance laws against the Commission on Presidential Debates. Federal law forbids corporations from making donations to federal candidates, and the plaintiffs argue that the Commission, which receives most of its funding from corporations, is in violation of this law because in essence, the Commission is contributing to the campaigns of the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, and against all other presidential candidates.
The Green Mountain Party has completed its filing to maintain qualified status in Vermont. Vermont requires a group to show that it has town committees in at least ten towns, to become ballot-qualified or to maintain qualified status.
The Green Mountain Party is only organized in Vermont and is only interested in state elections. It has no connection with the Green Party.
The other qualified minor parties in Vermont now are the Libertarian Party and the Liberty Union Party. The deadline is December 31. It is not known if the Green Party will qualify.
U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker will hold a trial in Baines v Dunlap, 1:19cv-509, on July 7, 2020. This is the Maine Libertarian ballot access case. The issues include the January 2020 deadline for a new party to qualify; the law that automatically converts members of a political party to independents when a party goes off the ballot; and the difficult requirements for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her own party’s primary ballot. A statewide candidate needs 2,000 signatures of party members, no matter how many members that party has. Only party members may sign a petition to get a candidate on a primary ballot.