On February 22, Arkansas election officials filed a new appeal in Moore v Martin, the case over the Arkansas petition deadline for non-presidential candidates. The Eighth Circuit last year said the March petition deadline was too early, unless the state could prove that it couldn’t check the validity of the signatures unless the deadline was that early.

Afterwards, the U.S. District Court held a trial, and after a witness for state government admitted on the stand that the state could cope with a later petition deadline, the U.S. District Court struck down that deadline. But now the state wants the Eighth Circuit to reverse that decision.

The same deadline was declared unconstitutional in 1975, and again in 1977, and in 1977 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that decision. The legislature moved the deadline to May, but later forgot why it had done that, and moved it to January. In 1988 that deadline was again declared unconstitutional. It was again moved to May, but once more the legislature forgot why it had done that, and moved it to March.

A U.S. District Court will hear Rhodes v Snyder, e.d., 2:17cv-14186, on March 29 at 1:30 pm in Detroit. This is the case over whether the U.S. Constitution requires Michigan to hold a special U.S. House election earlier than November 2018. The 13th district seat formerly occupied by John Conyers has been vacant since last year.