Alabama News Story Says Ballot Access Bill Won’t Move Unless Public Expresses Support

Alabama Senate Bill 336, which would lower the number of signatures for minor parties and non-presidential independent candidates, is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  This news story says that an informal straw poll of the Senators on that committee shows that it only has two supporters, out of 13 committee members.  But the bill has not had any publicity in Alabama newspapers, until this story.

There is a ballot access lawsuit pending against Alabama petition requirements in special elections.  It is in the U.S. Supreme Court.  It had won in U.S. District Court, but then the Eleventh Circuit had ruled 2-1 that the case had been moot when it won in U.S. District Court, and the Eleventh Circuit erased the decision without actually deciding the ballot access issue.  The issue in the U.S. Supreme Court is whether the Eleventh Circuit was wrong to do that.

Michigan Gerrymander Opponents File Brief, Asking U.S. Supreme Court Not to Stay Lower Court Order

On May 20, the Michigan opponents of partisan gerrymandering filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.  It asks the court not to stay the lower court decision that ordered Michigan to redraw its U.S. House districts in time for the 2020 election.

Also, the Michigan Secretary of State, who is a Democrat, filed this brief, also urging the court not to issue a stay.