On September 18, attorneys for the state of Georgia asked the Eleventh Circuit to dismiss the lawsuit Curling v Kemp, which was filed in U.S. District Court in 2017. The case concerns the legality of the state’s vote-counting machines, which do not leave a paper trail. The U.S. District Court had ruled on September 17, 2018, that the case is a valid case and discovery may continue. However, the U.S. District Court Judge had also said Georgia need not replace its machines in time for the November 2018 election, but she strongly hinted that they can’t be used beyond 2018.

In the Eleventh Circuit, the case is 18-13951. The state is also asking the U.S. District Court to stay any further proceedings, while the state tries to persuade the Eleventh Circuit to dismiss the case. The plaintiffs have responded by saying the request for a stay has no merit, and that they want oral argument on the motion for a stay.

It is odd that the state is fighting this case so hard, given that the Secretary of State says he wants to replace the machines in 2019 anyway.

Here is a news story about Jeffrey Siskind, an independent candidate for Attorney General of Florida. He is only the third person in the last 90 years to be on the ballot for that office, who is not a Republican or Democratic nominee. Florida law made it virtually impossible for anyone to run outside the two major parties (except for President) from 1931 through 1998. The law was eased in 1999. The only other two non-major party candidates for Florida Attorney General have been independent Jim Lewis, who got 3.8% in 2010; and Libertarian Bill Wohsifer, who got 2.9% in 2014.

Siskind says he is a centrist. He has in the past been both a Democrat and a Republican.

On April 28, police for the city of Meriden, Connecticut, prevented Libertarian Party petitioners from working in a city public park at a well-attended Daffodil Festival. The party was working to get 7,500 valid signatures for its statewide slate of candidates. The party sued, and the city has now settled the lawsuit by paying the party $37,000. See this story.