On November 22, three Washington state Democratic presidential electors filed this reply brief in Chiafalo v Washington, 19-465. This is the case over whether a state can punish “disobedient” presidential electors. This is the final brief for the Washington state presidential elector case. The next step in this case is for the U.S. Supreme Court to set a conference date to decide whether to hear it.
On November 21, Rocky De La Fuente sued Michigan’s Secretary of State for excluding him from the 2020 Republican presidential primary ballot. The law says candidates mentioned in the news media go on the ballot automatically. The case is in state court.
The Peace & Freedom Party recently sent a letter to the California Secretary of State, telling him that the party supports having both Gloria La Riva and Howie Hawkins on its March 2020 presidential primary ballot.
Hawkins is also expecting to be on the California Green Party primary ballot. The Peace & Freedom letter points out to the Secretary of State that there is nothing illegal about a candidate appearing on the presidential primary ballot of two parties. In 2016 the same Secretary of State refused to allow Jill Stein to run in the PFP primary, because she was appearing on the Green Party ballot. Stein wanted to run in both primaries.
It is especially odd for any California Secretary of State to disallow anyone from running in the presidential primary of two parties, given that the election code explicitly allows for presidential fusion in the general election. In 2016, Donald J. Trump appeared on the November ballot as the nominee of both the Republican and the American Independent Parties.
On November 21, an amicus curiae brief was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in De La Fuente v Padilla, 19-524. This is the case over California’s independent presidential petition, which requires almost 200,000 signatures to be collected in 105 days. The Ninth Circuit had upheld the law. Here is the brief. COFOE (the Coalition for Free & Open Elections) paid the printing bill. COFOE appreciates all the contributions that have made this possible.
On November 22, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York criticized leaders of the New York Democratic Party who are working to toughen the definition of a qualified party. See this story.
