On March 5, the Montana Green Party submitted its petition for party status. See this story. The Green Party hasn’t been a qualified party in Montana since 2004. Jill Stein was on the ballot in 2016, but she used the independent presidential petition procedure, which permits a party label. Both the party petition and the independent presidential petition require 5,000 signatures.
The bill approved by the Indiana Senate to allow anyone to vote absentee, whether they are incapable of going to the polls on election day or not, has died in the House. House inaction also killed another bill, to set up nonpartisan redistricting. See this story.
On March 5, the North Carolina State Court of Appeals issued a ruling over the issue of the make-up of the State Board of Elections. See this story. The story also reveals that Governor Roy Cooper will let HB 90 take effect on March 15, even though he won’t sign it. HB 90 is the bill that said the Board should have nine members, including one member who is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.
On March 5, attorneys for the California Secretary of State notified the U.S. Supreme Court that they don’t intend to respond to the cert petition filed last month by the Independent Party. Of course if the Court asked them to, then they would. Independent Party v Padilla, 17-1200.
On March 5, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, the lead plaintiff in the state court case that challenged Pennsylvania’s U.S. House districts, filed this brief in the U.S. Supreme Court. Turzai v League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. The League again argues that the State Supreme Court had the authority to strike down the old U.S. House districts under the State Constitution. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
