The Alaska primary filing deadline is Friday, June 1. Governor Bill Walker, a registered independent, has the right to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party if he wishes. However, this article says he hasn’t decided whether to do that, or to petition as an independent candidate. If he is the Democratic nominee, the November ballot will say “Democrat” next to his name, meaning that he is the Democratic nominee.
On May 29, U.S. District Court Judge Jon D. Levy refused to issue an injunction that would permit the Maine Republican Party to avoid using Ranked Choice Voting. Here is the 20-page order in Maine Republican Party v Dunlap, 1:18cv-179.
Newspapers in Texas are noting that no group successfully completed the petition for party status in Texas this year. No such petition has succeeded in Texas since 2010, when the Green Party last did the petition. See this story.
The Daily Beast has this article about the money Jill Stein raised to pay for recounts in a few states of the November 2016 presidential vote.
On May 29, an independent candidate for Nebraska Treasurer, Kent Bernbeck, filed a lawsuit against the petition requirement. The 2016 session of the Nebraska legislature raised the petition from 4,000 signatures for statewide office, to 10% of the number of registered voters as of the time the petition is submitted, which is a constantly shifting target. Bernbeck v Gale, 4:18cv-3073. Here is the Complaint. The case is assigned to Judge John M. Gerrard, an Obama appointee.
The case also challenges the Nebraska law that says the ballot label for all independent candidates is “By petition.” UPDATE: here is a short Associated Press story about the lawsuit.
