On August 5, U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane, an Obama appointee, issued an opinion in Judicial Watch v Griffin-Valade, 6:24cv-1783. The issue is whether Oregon is failing to keep its voter registration list up-to-date, something each state is required to do under the 1993 federal Voter Registration law. The judge ruled that the Constitution Party is the only plaintiff that has standing to carry on the lawsuit. The other organization in the lawsuit, Judicial Watch, does not have standing, according to the decision. The case will now proceed to the merits.

The judge agreed that the Constitution Party is harmed by inaccurate voter registration records. All qualified parties in Oregon must keep registration of at least one-tenth of 1% and must pass the 1% vote test as well, to stay on the ballot. Parties that have registration of one-third of 1% don’t need to worry about the vote test.

On July 30, Michael Polelle, an independent voter in Florida, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case against closed primaries. Florida has closed primaries. Polelle argues that the U.S. Constitution requires that he be allowed to vote in partisan primaries. Here is his cert petition.

The case is Polelle v Byrd, 25-147.

On August 6, the Logan County, Ohio Board of Elections voted to keep independent candidate Ben Stahler on the ballot. He is running for President of the Bellefontaine city council. He was challenged on the basis that he is not a true independent. He had attended a Republican Party dinner on March 31, 2025, the day before he filed his petition to be on the ballot as an independent. See this story.

Ohio has the nation’s most arbitrary law on who can be an independent candidate. It is common for challengers to cite personal behavior. If Ohio had registration by party, the law wouldn’t be so arbitrary. But the Ohio voter registration form does not ask about partisan affiliation or the lack of it.