On September 11, U.S. District Court Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, a Trump appointee, issued an opinion in West v Pennsylvania Department of State, w.d., 2:24cv-1349. It rejects the procedural objections to the lawsuit that the state had raised. The issue is the unequal Pennsylvania law on presidential elector candidates. Pennsylvania does not parties with 15% of the registered voters to submit any documents whatsoever from their candidates for presidential elector. The Democratic and Republican Parties simply send in a list of their candidates for presidential elector.

But other groups, and independent candidates, must submit separate declarations of candidacy from each of their presidential elector candidates. Furthermore, they must run a full slate of electors. In 2024, West would have been on the ballot in Pennsylvania, except that a few of his candidates for presidential elector did not properly complete the paperwork. Here is the order. It does say that the Department of State per se is not a proper defendant, but that doesn’t matter, because the Secretary of the Department is also a defendant.

Pennsylvania’s discriminatory handling of presidential elector candidates has not yet been declared unconstitutional, but it seems likely that it will be.

On September 9, the Ninth Circuit reheard Moving Oxnard Forward v Lourdes Lopez, 21-56295. This is a lawsuit over whether the City of Oxnard contribution limits to city council candidates, $500, is so low as to be unconstitutional. The original Ninth Circuit panel had ruled against the limits. When the Ninth Circuit holds an en banc hearing, not all the Ninth Circuit judges participate, because there are so many judges, it isn’t practical. So eleven judges are chosen at random.

The rehearing last an hour. It is difficult to predict the outcome. Anyone can watch this video of the hearing.

The case is interesting to Libertarians because there is evidence that the city council imposed the limits to block Libertarian Party leader Aaron Starr from winning. But, after many tries, he did get elected to the Oxnard city council and he is currently on the council.

Here is a Florida newspaper story about Sidney J. Catts, who was elected Governor of Florida in 1916. After he lost the Democratic primary, the Prohibition Party nominated him in convention, and he won the general election.

Back in 1916, Florida general election ballots did not have party labels on the ballot.