On Wednesday, January 3, the Maine legislative committees that hear election law bills will take testimony on LD 1726. It makes it more difficult for petitioners to gather signatures at the polls on election day, by requiring them to stand at least 50 feet away from the entrance. See this story.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Minnesota Voters Alliance v Mansky, 16-1435, on Wednesday, February 28. This is the case that challenges the Minnesota law that makes it illegal to wear any clothing with a political message, or any attachment to clothing with a political message, at the polls.
The U.S. Supreme Court has docketed Gary Johnson & Jill Stein v Commission on Presidential Debates. The case is 17-916. If the Commission on Presidential Debates chooses to respond to the Johnson-Stein cert petition, the response is due January 29, 2018.
On December 29, officers of the North Carolina Green Party presented the State Board of Elections with evidence that the party meets the new definition of “political party”. The evidence consists of proof that Jill Stein was on the ballot in at least 35 states in 2016.
An employee of the State Board of Elections said that this evidence cannot now be accepted, because the State Board technically now has no members, and therefore it doesn’t exist. The State Board’s web page says that all the member slots are “vacant.” This is because in 2017 the state legislature passed a bill changing the makeup of the State Board, and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper sued to invalidate the new law. The lawsuit, Cooper v Berger, 52PA17-2, is pending in the State Supreme Court (the lower state court had rejected the lawsuit). Until it is settled, the employees of the Board maintain that there is no Board.
A new party in Kansas will try to get on the ballot in Kansas in 2018. Its name will be “Party of the Center.” Filmmaker Scott Richardson is one of the founders. See this story. Thanks to Nancy Brune for the link.
