The Eighth Circuit will hear Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Thurston, 19-2503, on December 11, 2019, at 9 a.m. This is the case over the 2019 law that increased the petition for new parties from 10,000 signatures to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote (over 26,000 signatures). The U.S. District Court had enjoined the law earlier this year, and the state is appealing.
The three judges will be Michael Melloy (a Bush Jr. appointee); Ralph Erickson; and Jonathan Kobes (both Trump appointees).
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing to file paperwork to qualify for the Democratic presidential primary in Alabama, ahead of a Friday deadline. The move would be a first step toward a national campaign, though Bloomberg has not made a final decision to run.
Alabama has the first deadline for a primary ballot.
On November 5, 2019, the voters of Scranton, Pennsylvania, elected an independent candidate to be Mayor. She is Paige Cognetti. She defeated her major party opponents by polling 36% of the vote. In order to win, she had to contend with the straight-ticket device, which was used by thousands of voters in Scranton. This year’s election is the last time Pennsylvania is using it. See this story, which has a link to the election returns, including the number of voters who used the straight-ticket device. Thanks to Michael Thompson for the link.
The Democratic Party lawsuit against the Georgia law that regulates the order of candidates on the general election ballot, S.P.S. v Raffensperger, 1:19cv-4960, is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg. She is an Obama appointee. Recently she ruled against the state in another election law lawsuit, Curling v Raffensperger. That case involved vote-counting machines.
The national office of the Green Party has gathered the names of nine Green Party members who were elected to public office on November 5, 2019. They are:
1. Three in Connecticut: Eric Bergman, Clinton Town Council; Ed Heflin, Constable of Greenwich; Leif Smith, Constable of Redding
2. Two in Michigan: Kat James, Ferndale City Council; Cliff Yankovich, Lowell City Council
3. One in Pennsylvania: Tara Yaney, Edwood Borough Council
4. One in Virginia: Ira Richards, Warren Co., Lord Fairfax Soil & Conservation Cmsr
5. One in California: Wayne Doyle, Humboldt Co., Timber Cove Water District
6. One in Maine: Anna Trevorrow, Portland Bd. of Education
