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.
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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.
On September 18, a state trial court in Georgia invalidated the results of the Republican primary in state house district 28, and said the primary must be reset. He did not set a date for that. There are no candidates in that district other than whomever the Republicans properly nominated. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
The flaw with the original primary as that at least 70 voters were given ballots for the next-door district, not their district. The primary was very close and the winner won with 67 more votes than his opponent.
On September 19, James Hall asked the full Eleventh Circuit to rehear Hall v Merrill, 16-16766. This is the case over whether it is constitutional to require an independent candidate for U.S. House to submit a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in special elections, when there isn’t as much time to circulate the petition. The U.S. District Court had ruled in favor of the candidate and against the state of Alabama. Then the state appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which said last month that the U.S. District Court should not have struck down the law, because the case was moot. This contradicts the teaching of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitutional ballot access cases are not moot just because the election is over. The Eleventh Circuit decision was 2-1, with a vigorous dissent. Here is the request for rehearing en banc.