The Ninth Circuit has proposed hearing Libertarian Party of Arizona v Reagan, 17-16491, on February 8, 2019, if that date is acceptable to the attorneys. This is the case that challenges the 2017 law that makes it extremely difficult for members of small qualified parties to get on their own party’s primary ballot, if that party has been continuously ballot-qualified for more than just the last election or last two elections. The restrictive law does not apply to small qualified parties that have had to attain their qualified status in the last few years. That is why the new restriction doesn’t apply to the Green Party, and that is why the Green Party has nominees on the Arizona ballot this year, but the Libertarian Party doesn’t, even though the Libertarian Party has substantially more members in Arizona than the Green Party does.

On August 19, the plaintiffs in the federal case involving glitches in Georgia voter registration records asked a U.S. District Court to expedite their lawsuit. They also asked the court to issue an order that enables voters who have trouble with the voter registration records to be allowed to vote at the polls, if they produce proof of citizenship. See the filing here. Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda v Kemp, n.d., 1:18cv-4727.

On September 25, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments in Working Families Party v Commonwealth, 435 MD 2016. The issue is whether Pennsylvania’s Constitution requires the state to permit fusion. The Commonwealth Court had ruled against the Working Families Party on September 18, 2017, by a vote of 6-1. The case had been filed on August 5, 2016. One of the plaintiffs is a Democratic nominee for state legislature, who also wanted to appear on the November ballot as the Working Families nominee. Instead his ballot label was simply “Democrat”.

Pennsylvania already permits the major parties to engage in fusion. If a primary candidate wins his or her own party’s nomination and also wins the nomination of the other major party via write-ins in that party’s primary, that candidate will be listed on the November ballot as the nominee of both major parties. Every election year, several Pennsylvania legislators win both major party nominations. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.