Oklahoma Representative Sean Roberts (R-Hominy) has a bill pending that moves the deadline for candidates to file in a primary from April to January. He has recently amended his bill, HB 2338, to provide that candidates may file in the primary of a new party according to the original April deadline. This amendment was logically necessary, because the petition deadline for new parties to qualify is in March. Without the amendment, new parties that qualified near their petition deadline could not have had anyone running in their primaries.

The bill still forces independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy in January, however, which is almost certainly unconstitutional. Thanks to E. Zachary Knight for the news about the amendment.

On February 8, U.S. District Court Judge J. Michele Childs, an Obama appointee, dismissed the lawsuit Heindel v Andino, 3:18cv-1887. The case challenged South Carolina’s use of iVotronic vote-counting machines. The plaintiffs argued that the system is unreliable and would permit the vote tally to be hacked. But Judge Childs said that the plaintiffs lack standing, because they just have a generalized grievance and they did not show that they have been injured in particular. Here is the opinion.

On February 11, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus, a Clinton appointee, issued an opinion in Schmitt v Husted, s.d., 2:18cv-966. The issue is whether it violates the U.S. Constitution for Ohio county and city election officials to decide on their own whether to reject an initiative petition, based on the content of the proposed initiative. A local initiative adjusting the penalties for marijuana possession in a particular town was rejected by the local elections board, because the local elections board felt the initiative, if passed, would be invalid. The decision says it violates due process for local non-judicial officials to make decisions like this.