Already, deadlines for certain procedures to get new parties on the ballot for 2018 have passed in five states. With two exceptions, no new party qualified in these states.

In California, the deadline for a new party to obtain approximately 60,000 registrants, and thus be on the 2018 ballot, passed on January 2. No group came close to qualifying. This deadline had been struck down in 2015, but the decision was interpreted only to apply to presidential election years.

In Arkansas, the petition deadline for new parties was also January 2. No group submitted a petition. The only three ballot-qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian.

In Maine, the deadline for a group to show that it had 5,000 registered members was also January 2. No group tried. The four ballot-qualified parties are Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian.

In Utah, the deadline for a group to submit a petition for party status was November 30, 2017. The Green Party met this deadline, and earlier in 2017 the United Utah Party did as well. The other qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Independent American, and Constitution.

In Vermont, the deadline for one method to get a new party on the ballot, that it have town committees in ten towns, was January 1. The only group that met that requirement was the Green Mountain Party. Parties that were already on the ballot were Democratic, Republican, Progressive, Libertarian, and Liberty Union. Groups that didn’t make the January 1 deadline can still appear on the ballot in 2018 if their nominees submit petitions by August 7, 2018.

On January 5, the Commission on Presidential Debates told the U.S. Supreme Court that it does not intend to file a brief in the Gary Johnson-Jill Stein anti-trust debates lawsuit. Of course, if the U.S. Supreme Court later tells the Commission that it wants a response, then the Commission would comply.

On January 5, Delaware appealed the decision of the U.S. District Court in Adams v Carney. The U.S. District Court on December 6, 2017, had struck down a Delaware law that the only people eligible to be appointed a state judge are people who are members of a political party that is entitled to its own primary. In Delaware, only parties with 5% of the registration are entitled to a primary, so effectively only Democrats and Republicans may be appointed to a state judicial position.

The plaintiff who won the case in U.S. District Court, James R. Adams, is a registered independent.