This article says there is some reason to believe the Democratic National Committee will revise its rules for getting into the Democratic debates. The current rules prevent Michael Bloomberg from qualifying, because they require 300,000 donors and Bloomberg isn’t accepting donations.
The Independent Party of Oregon is ballot-qualified, but no longer has enough registrants to qualify for a government-administered primary. It will administer its own primary in 2020, using the internet. See this story.
On November 18, both sides filed their final briefs in Pierce v Stapleton, 6:18cv-63. This is the case that challenges Montana’s ban on out-of-state circulators for initiative petitions, and the ban on paying signatures on a per-signature basis. A decision is likely fairly soon.
On November 27, a U.S. District Court in New Hampshire sent questions to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Casey v New Hampshire Secretary of State, 1:19cv-149. The case concerns a 2018 law that is not clear. It relates to who can register to vote in New Hampshire. It can be interpreted to mean that college students attending college in New Hampshire cannot register and vote in New Hampshire, if they have drivers licenses and car registrations in other states. Here is the rather long and complicated referral to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
On November 27, attorneys for President Trump, and for voters who wanted to vote for him in the California presidential primary, filed this brief in the California cases on whether SB 27 violates the U.S. Constitution. Senate Bill 27 was the law that kept presidential primary candidates off the ballot if they didn’t reveal their tax returns.
Trump’s attorneys agree that the U.S. District Court ruling, enjoining the law on U.S. Constitution grounds, should be vacated because it is moot (because the law also violates the State Constitution, so no ruling is needed on the federal constitution). But they say they are prevailing parties and the Ninth Circuit should send the case back to the U.S. District Court for a ruling on whether they can receive attorneys fees. So far, Rocky De La Fuente’s attorney has not joined this request, although De La Fuente was also a plaintiff against the law.
