The Ninth Circuit hears Soltysik v Padilla in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, February 8, at 9:30 a.m. The issue is the California law that won’t let members of non-qualified parties list their party on the ballot for partisan office, even though the law does permit members of qualified parties to have their party label on the ballot. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law.

The three judges are Stephen Reinhardt (a Carter appointee); William Fletcher (a Clinton appointee); and John Owens (an Obama appointee). This is an ACLU case. The plaintiff, Emidio Soltysik, is a registered Socialist, but when he ran for the legislature, he was forced to have “party preference: none” on the ballot.

On February 1, a subcommittee of the House Privileges & Elections Committee defeated HB 540. The bill would have eased the definition of “political party” from a group that polled 10% for any statewide race at either of the last two elections, to 3%.

On February 1, a U.S. District Court invalidated Florida’s policy of not letting ex-felons register to vote unless the Governor restores that individual’s voting rights. Hand v Scott, n.d., 4:17cv-128.