In January 2016, a professional petitioner who wanted to work in Pennsylvania, for presidential primary candidates, filed a lawsuit to overturn the requirement that he must be a Pennsylvania resident in order to circulate such petitions.  Benezet v Cortes, m.d., 1:16cv-74.

Pennsylvania already lets out-of-state petitioners work on general election petitions, but says out-of-state circulators can’t work on primary petitions because that would violate the freedom of association of the two major parties.  The case is now almost four years old and is still awaiting a decision from U.S. District Court Judge Yvette Kane.  She was Secretary of the Commonwealth before she was a federal judge, so she is very familiar with election law.

U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts will hear Graveline v Benson, e.d. Mich., 2:18cv-12354, on December 17, Tuesday, at 8:30 a.m.  This is the case over the Michigan independent petition requirement for statewide office, 30,000 signatures.  Last year the same judge had enjoined the law and put the plaintiff, Doug Graveline, on the November ballot as an independent candidate for Attorney General.  The upcoming hearing is to determine the constitutionality of the law.

Newsday, the dominant daily newspaper on Long Island, here carries my letter, opposing the idea that New York’s definition of “political party” should be made more stringent.

Last week Newsday had editorialized in favor of increasing the number of votes needed for a group to become a qualified party, from 50,000 votes for Governor, to either 150,000 or 250,000.  The proposal is being considered by the state’s Commission on Public Funding, a group that has the authority to change New York state election laws unless the legislature vetoes the group’s ideas.