On July 20, the North Carolina Constitution Party filed a federal lawsuit to regain a spot on the November ballot for three of its nominees. The State Board of Elections removed them because they had run in Democratic or Republican primaries this year, and had lost those primaries; then the Constitution Party had nominated them in its convention. Poindexter v Strach, e.d., 5:18cv-366. Here is the eleven-page Complaint.

The basis for the lawsuit is due process. On the date the Constitution Party nominated the three candidates, there was no law saying a convention party could not nominate persons who had earlier run in a major party primary. The law didn’t exist until a few days after the nominating convention. Two of the candidates are running for partisan county office and one for the legislature. One had run in a Democratic primary, and two in a Republican primary.

On July 18, the Montana Secretary of State asked the Montana Supreme Court to put the Green Party back on the November ballot. The Secretary of State had originally determined that the Green Party had enough valid signatures, in March. In June the state held a primary for the Green Party. Then, on July 9, a state trial court removed the party from the ballot, on the basis that the Democratic Party’s challenge to the petition validity should be upheld. The trial over the validity of the signatures had been held in April, and the judge waited almost three months before ruling. See this story.

Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is up for re-election in Vermont this year. The Progressive Party has always been closely associated with Sanders, but Sanders has never run for office under its label. The only labels he has run under have been Liberty Union (decades ago) and independent.

Vermont allows write-ins in party primaries. If the Progressive Party primary is used to nominate Sanders this year via write-ins, it seems plausible he would accept the party’s nomination for the first time. The primaries in Vermont are August 14.