On September 19, U.S. District Court Edmund A. Sargus, a Clinton appointee, issued an order in Schmitt v Husted, s.d., 2:18cv-966. He put two local initiatives on the November 2018 ballot in Portage County. They reduce penalties for marijuana possession.

Ohio permits county election boards to reject local initiatives, even if they have enough valid signatures, if the board believes the initiative deals with an improper subject. If a board rejects an initiative, there is no direct method for the proponents of the initiative to go to court to get a reversal. This aspect of Ohio election law was held likely to violate federal due process. Therefore, the two initiatives were ordered onto the ballot. Here is the 10-page opinion.

On September 19, James Hall asked the full Eleventh Circuit to rehear Hall v Merrill, 16-16766. This is the case over whether it is constitutional to require an independent candidate for U.S. House to submit a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in special elections, when there isn’t as much time to circulate the petition. The U.S. District Court had ruled in favor of the candidate and against the state of Alabama. Then the state appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which said last month that the U.S. District Court should not have struck down the law, because the case was moot. This contradicts the teaching of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitutional ballot access cases are not moot just because the election is over. The Eleventh Circuit decision was 2-1, with a vigorous dissent. Here is the request for rehearing en banc.

On September 18, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 1947, which outlaws paying petitioners on a per-signature basis. Here is his veto message.