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It is likely that a U.S. District Court Judge will hear Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Thurston, e.d., 4:19cv-214, on June 4, Tuesday. This is the case that challenges the number of signatures needed for a newly-qualifying party in Arkansas, 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. The law was changed earlier this year from 10,000 to 26,745 signatures, even though Arkansas laws similar to the new law had been struck down in 1996 and again in 2006.
On May 7, the national Democratic Party filed its final brief in U.S. District Court in Jacobson v Detzner, n.d., 4:18cv-262. It is 29 pages. This is the case over whether the Constitution forbids a state from giving one party the top line on the general election ballot if it won the last gubernatorial election.
On April 2, Ashland, Wisconsin, held a non-partisan election for city office. Wahsayah Whitebird was elected in ward six. He is a member of the Communist Party, and he defeated the incumbent, David Mettille. The vote was 52-42. Here is an article in the Peoples World about this election.
Ashland has a population of 8,216. The city council has twelve members.
On May 6, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky filed this brief in support of injunctive relief, against the new law requiring candidates of parties that nominate by convention to have filed a declaration of candidacy in January of an election year. Sweeney v Crigler, e.d., 2:19cv-46.
The brief argues that such a deadline is unconstitutional anyway, and in addition it violated due process for the 2019 session of the legislature to have changed that deadline from April to January, after the January deadline had passed.
If the lawsuit wins, the party’s nominees for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Auditor, and Agriculture Commissioner will be on the November 2019 ballot. Kentucky elects all its statewide state officers in the odd years prior to presidential years. The party is ballot-qualified, and entitled to nominate by convention, because it polled over 2% for president in 2016.
