On November 29, the Montana Secretary of State filed this response brief in Montana Green Party v Stapleton, 6:18cv-87. Like the state’s opening brief, the new brief does not mention any election law precedents. The issues in the case are the unequal distribution requirement for the party petition, and the early deadline. There are dozens of precedents on both these issues, but the state doesn’t discuss any of them.

The Associated Press has written this story about the December 3 opinion of the Ninth Circuit concerning party labels for candidates who are members of unqualified parties.

UPDATE: here is a longer story from the San Francisco Chronicle. FURTHER UPDATE: here is a story in the Metropolitican News-Enterprise, published in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times still hasn’t covered this story, even though Soltysik lives in Los Angeles.

Missouri Representative Dan Stacy (R-Blue Springs) has introduced HB 26. It would add a question on voter registration forms for an applicant to choose a party. It also provides that future primaries in Missouri would be closed. It says that parties that don’t wish to have closed primaries are free to nominate by convention, or by a primary with the election administration expenses paid for by that party.

Currently, Missouri has open primaries, and the voter registration form does not ask about party. Any voter is free to choose any party’s primary ballot. All qualified parties except new parties nominate by primary.

The bill does not say whether voters would be allowed to register into unqualified parties. And the bill drafter seems unaware that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that parties have a constitutional right to invite independent voters into their primaries. That case was Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.