In February 2018, a U.S. District Court struck down Washington state’s law that makes it illegal for an independent presidential candidate to petition if he or she hasn’t first run a legal notice in a newspaper, at least ten days before starting, revealing where the petitioners will be working.

The Secretary of State appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit. On August 22, De La Fuente filed his response brief, defending the decision of the U.S. District Court.

The state’s reply would have been due this month, but the state requested an extension of time until October 22 to file its final brief. The case is De La Fuente v Wyman, 18-35208.

The Alaskan Independence Party is a qualified party in Alaska, but it has no nominees for any partisan office this year. In 2016 it had only one nominee, who ran for the State House. In 2014 it had no nominees, because the only person who filed in its 2014 primary later withdrew. It had no nominees in 2012. In 2010 it had nominees or Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and State House in one district.

The reason it remains ballot-qualified is because it has so many registrants. Parties remain on the ballot if they have registration equal to three percent of the vote cast in the last election. The party has been on the ballot continuously starting in 1983, when it won a lawsuit against the old law on how a party remains on the ballot, Vogler v Miller. In 1990 it elected the Governor and in 1992 elected a state legislator.

The Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties all have nominees on the ballot for Pennsylvania’s U.S. House race, 7th district, in the Lehigh Valley. At least four debates are being held that include all three candidates. See this story.

Last month, the Republican Party executive director, Mike Stoll, wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, saying he had found two voters whose signatures were listed on the Libertarian petition and who now say they didn’t sign the petition. The objection was dismissed. The Libertarian, Tim Silfies, submitted 2,250 signatures to meet a requirement of 1,019 signatures. Silfies told the press that many individuals who had signed his petition received phone calls from unidentified individuals, asking if they had signed his petition. The 7th district is considered a swing district.