Alabama’s Secretary of State gives a free list of the state’s registered voters to the qualified parties. But if an unqualified party wants the list, it must pay approximately $34,000. On January 23, the Alabama Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit in federal court, charging that it violates the Constitution for the state to discriminate. Libertarian Party of Alabama v Merrill, m.d., 2:19cv-69.

The case is based on a U.S. Supreme Court summary affirmance in 1970. A 3-judge U.S. District Court ruled that if New York gives a free list to the qualified parties, it must give the list free to parties that are trying to get on the ballot. That case was Socialist Workers Party v Rockefeller, and it was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970. That means that the exact issue settled in the U.S. District Court is binding on the entire nation.

Since 1970, minor parties and independent candidates have won similar lawsuits against Arizona, California, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Oregon. The Alabama case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Emily C. Marks, a Trump appointee.

The 2020 Alabama petition requirement for minor parties is 51,588 signatures. No party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has been a qualified party statewide in Alabama since November 2002.

On January 24, California Assemblymember Brian Maienschein revealed that he has changed his registration from Republican to Democratic. He is the second state legislator this month to have made this change; the first was Maine Representative Don Marean, who switched on January 3.

Congressmember Steve Cohen introduced a proposed constitutional amendment earlier this month, to provide that the voters elect the President and Vice-President directly. It is HJRes 7. Here is the text. The preamble is interesting.