As already noted, on September 3, a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania upheld the state’s minimum vote requirement in primaries for write-in candidates. On September 4, the plaintiff-candidate appealed to the Third Circuit. Pugh v Berks County Board of Elections.
Sixteen amici curiae briefs have been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in National Republican Senatorial Committee v FEC, 24-621, on the side of striking down the federal law that limits how much money parties can spend on their own nominees, if they are coordinating with their nominees.
One amicus brief is filed by twenty states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia. All these states have Republican Attorneys General.
One brief is filed by the Republican Parties of Alabama, Georgia, and Texas. Another is filed by the Republican Party of Florida.
Other groups that have filed, and argue for striking down the limit, are: Buckeye Institute, Liberty Justice Center, American Center for Law & Justice, CATO Institute, Chamber of Commerce of the US, Advancing American Freedom, the Republican Governors Association, the America First Policy Institute, House Speaker Mike Johnson, former Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican National Committee, and Randy Elf.
Later amici on the other side will be filed.
In 2010 the voters of the District of Columbia passed an initiative, providing that the voters should elect the Attorney General for the district. Voters have been choosing the Attorney General starting in 2014. Now, bills are being drafted by various Republican members of Congress to eliminate elections for that office. See this Washington Post story.
On September 3, U.S. District Court John M. Gallagher upheld the Pennsylvania law that requires a minimum number of write-ins in a partisan primary before the candidate can be nominated. Pugh v Berks County Board of Elections, e.d., 5:25cv-3267. The plaintiff, Brandon Pugh, was the only candidate for Mayor of lyons Borough from any party. No one appeared on the primary ballot of any party for this position, but Pugh received six write-ins. However, the law said he needed the same number of write-ins as the number of signatures he would have needed to get on the primary ballot. That number was only ten. The judge said the burden was not severe. However, now no one will appear on the November 2025 ballot, and a write-in candidate, either Pugh himself or someone else, can run. In the general election there will be no minimum number of write-ins needed to win.
On August 25, the Wyoming Secretary of State filed this brief in Malcom v Gray, Laramie County 2024-cv-0202658. This is the lawsuit filed by some voters to overturn Wyoming’s closed primaries. Another issue in the case is the state ban on “sore losers”, but the state’s brief spends very little time on that issue.
