In 2016, independent U.S. Senate candidate Paul Merritt sued the California Secretary of State for censoring his paid statement in the California Voters’ Handbook. The case, Merritt v Padilla, c.d., 8:16cv-606, is still in U.S. District Court. On January 10, the U.S. District Court called for a status conference on April 9, which seems to indicate that the Judge is not now ready to rule, and want further proceedings.

Merritt was an independent candidate and he said so in his statement, but the Secretary of State deleted his reference to being an independent candidate from the heading of his statement, and did not even tell him. The candidate only learned what had happened when his county election officials notified him. Still pending is the issue of whether his due process rights were violated.

Willie Lee Wilson of Illinois was one of the candidates who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. He lives in Chicago and is African-American. He gained a spot on the Democratic presidential primary ballots in nine states, and tried in other states. He was handicapped in that process, and in his campaign, because the national Democratic Party told him he was not a “sanctioned” candidate. However, the party never explained its basis for that decision.

On April 19, 2017, he sued the Democratic national committee in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The case has moved slowly. On January 2, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, granted him permission to amend his Complaint. The original Complaint is here.

On January 12, attorneys for North Carolina government filed a brief in support of the law that abolished judicial primaries for the 2018 election. The Democratic Party had filed a lawsuit late last year, arguing that abolishing judicial primaries violates the U.S. Constitution. The case is North Carolina Democratic Party v Berger, m.d., 1:17cv-1113.