In 2017, the Georgia Libertarian Party filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia law on how independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, get on the ballot for U.S. House. Cowan v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:17cv-4660.

After two years, discovery has finally been completed. Each side will submit briefs asking for summary judgment by May 15, 2019. The Georgia law is so difficult, no third party has managed to comply with the law since it was created in 1943. No independent has complied with it since 1964. The law requires a petition of 5% of the registered voters, which is now typically 20,000 signatures or so.

There is no other ballot access law in any state with a historical record similar to the Georgia U.S. House law. Every other state except Alabama has had minor party or independent candidates for U.S. House on the ballot in either 2018 or 2016 or both years. Alabama last had one in 2014.

On April 18, the Florida Supreme Court issued a new opinion in Orange County, Florida v Singh, SC18-79. It reverses the same court’s January 4, 2019 opinion in the same case. The issue is whether counties may choose to have non-partisan elections for their own executive officers. The new opinion says state election law requires these elections to be partisan.

The voters of Orange County had passed a ballot measure to have non-partisan elections for Clerk of Circuit Court, Comptroller, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector, but that measure is now ruled invalid.

Orange County is one of Florida’s most populous counties, and includes Orlando. Democrats generally outpoll Republicans in Orange County. In 2016, the vote for president in Orange County was: Hillary Clinton 329,894; Donald Trump 195,216. Democrats in Orange County favor partisan elections and Democratic officials filed this lawsuit. The lower courts had ruled against non-partisan elections. The first opinion of the State Supreme Court had ruled in favor of non-partisan elections. After it came out, the losing side asked for clarification, and in a surprise, the court changed its mind.

On March 31, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan dissmissed the lawsuit Level the Playing Field v Federal Election Commission. Here is the 42-page opinion. The case had been filed in 2015. The opinion says that the Federal Election Commission was not “arbitrary or capricious” when it determined that the Commission on Presidential Debates is not violating federal campaign finance law.

Here is an April 1 press release from the FEC.