On December 20, a Case Management Report was filed with the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Florida, in Jacobson v Detzner, n.d., 4:18cv-262. This is the case filed earlier this year by the national Democratic Party against the Florida law that says the party that won the last gubernatorial election always gets the top line on the ballot. The Democrats had suspended their lawsuit, waiting to see if they won the governorship last month. They did not win, so they are putting the lawsuit back on track.

Democrats want the trial to start on May 27, 2019. The state prefers that it start in June 2019. The judge will soon decide on a date. The trial will consider expert testimony on whether being listed first on a general election ballot is helpful. These cases are always expensive, but the Democratic Party has the resources to bring in political scientists who have studied the effect of ballot order.

The Socialist Party has filed a document with the Maine Secretary of State, saying the party intends to qualify as a party. Therefore, election officials will allow voters to register into the Socialist Party, to see if it can obtain at least 5,000 registrants by January 2020, the deadline. The Libertarian Party has also filed the notice. The Libertarian Party hopes to file a lawsuit soon to regain its 5,500 registrants that were converted to independents earlier this month. If the party had its registrants back, it would meet the threshold to be a new party again.

On December 19, the ex-felons who had been challenging Florida’s arbitrary procedures for getting permission from the Governor to restore their voting rights filed a brief in Hand v Scott, 18-11388.  They argue that their lawsuit is now completely moot, because the voters passed an initiative last month ending their problem.  The individuals who filed Hand v Scott say that all of the plaintiffs who owe court costs and fines will soon pay them, so they will all be permitted to register to vote soon.

The state had recently said that the case is not moot because some of the individuals who had filed the case still owe court costs or fines.