Voters in Texas who use the straight-ticket device are sometimes finding that the device doesn’t work. This year, some voters who push the Republican straight-ticket button end up casting no vote for U.S. Senate. And some voters who push the Democratic button end up voting for Ted Cruz, Republican, for U.S. Senate. See this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

As the story says, this is the last year the device is being used in Texas. The legislature repealed it in 2017 but made that change effective after the 2018 election is over. The story does not say, but it could have said, that voters this year should simply not use the device.

A U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, will hear Gill v Scholz on Thursday, November 15, at 10 a.m. This is the case that challenges the independent U.S. House petition requirement, 5% of the last vote cast. The case was filed in 2016 and still doesn’t have a decision.

On October 26, the Illinois State Board of Elections filed this reply brief in Gill v Scholz, c.d., 3:16cv-3221. This is the case that challenges the Illinois 5% petition for independent candidates for U.S. House. All the briefs are now in.

Although the state relies on precedent, the state doesn’t mention the teaching of the U.S. Supreme Court in Storer v Brown, and Mandel v Bradley, that courts could consider how often a law is used, and if it is used very seldom, it is probably unconstitutional.