Last week, a Nevada state trial court declared that Jason Burke can’t be on the November ballot as the Republican nominee for State Assembly, district 5, because he didn’t file a campaign finance report on time. See this story. It is not clear what will happen next. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.
On September 19, the nominees of the Illinois Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties for Comptroller debated each other. See this story.
Also see this story.
Alan Greenblatt has this article in Governing, pointing out there are more independent candidates this year with strong credentials, especially for Governor. Thanks to Peter Gemma for the link.
On September 20, Rocky De La Fuente notified the Ninth Circuit of last month’s decision in Graveline v Johnson. De La Fuente is currently challenging the California petition requirement for independent presidential candidates in the Ninth Circuit. The California requirement in 2016 was 178,039 signatures, to be collected in 105 days. In 2020 it will probably be approximately 200,000 signatures.
Last month, a U.S. District Court in Michigan enjoined Michigan’s statewide independent petition, which was exactly 30,000 signatures, and which had to be completed in 180 days. The Michigan decision relies on the fact that only twice since the law was created in 1988 had any statewide petition succeeded (Ross Perot in 1992 and Ralph Nader in 2004). The Michigan court relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s teaching that if a petition requirement is seldom used, it is probably too difficult.
The California independent presidential petition has not been used since 1992. Nevertheless, a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles upheld it, without even permitting a trial. The new filing by De La Fuente informs the Ninth Circuit about the Michigan decision. Here is De La Fuente’s filing with the Ninth Circuit, concerning the Michigan decision.
On September 19, U.S. District Court Edmund A. Sargus, a Clinton appointee, issued an order in Schmitt v Husted, s.d., 2:18cv-966. He put two local initiatives on the November 2018 ballot in Portage County. They reduce penalties for marijuana possession.
Ohio permits county election boards to reject local initiatives, even if they have enough valid signatures, if the board believes the initiative deals with an improper subject. If a board rejects an initiative, there is no direct method for the proponents of the initiative to go to court to get a reversal. This aspect of Ohio election law was held likely to violate federal due process. Therefore, the two initiatives were ordered onto the ballot. Here is the 10-page opinion.
