Many states permit general election candidates to run for either President or Vice-President, and some other public office, simultaneously. But Michigan is not one of those states. Justin Amash cannot appear on the November ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. House, and also run in the general election for president. Thanks to David Belmont for this news.
The Florida federal trial in Jacobson v Lee opened on July 15, Monday. Here is a newspaper story about the testimony. This is the case in which the Democratic Party is trying to overturn the law that has allowed the Republican nominee to be listed first on the November ballot in all elections for over twenty years.
On July 15, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously put Robert Bender back on the November 2019 ballot as a Libertarian nominee for City Council of Reynoldsburg. This is a partisan election. State ex rel Bender v Franklin County Board of Elections, 2019-Ohio-2854.
Bender had needed 13 valid signatures to get on the Libertarian primary ballot. He submitted 22. After the primary was over (which Bender won by default), the Board of Elections removed him from the general election ballot because someone had challenged his primary petition. But the Supreme Court ruled that the protester didn’t have standing, because he had not voted in a Libertarian primary in either of the last two annual elections.
Here is the nine-page opinion. UPDATE: here is a newspaper story about the outcome.
The Puerto Rico legislature has passed a bill to move the Democratic presidential primary from June to March. See this story at Frontloading HQ.
Puerto Rico’s presidential primaries have usually been in June in the past, although in 2000 they were in February.
Howie Hawkins, who is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination, hopes to qualify for primary season matching funds by the end of 2019. If he does, he will be able to receive those funds in January 2020. The federal law on primary season matching funds does not allow any presidential candidate to receive the funds earlier than January 1 of the presidential election year.
Jill Stein qualified for primary season matching funds in 2016, but she didn’t receive the funds until April 14, 2016.
The Federal Election Commission has ruled many times that primary season matching funds may be used to pay petitioners to get the candidate or that candidate’s party on the general election ballot. Therefore, the sooner the presidential candidate receives the money, the better for that candidate’s general election ballot access.
