On November 13, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Minnesota Voters Alliance v Mansky, 16-1435. This is the case concerning Minnesota’s law forbidding any clothing at the polls, or anything attached to clothing, that has any political content. The lower federal courts had upheld the law.

It seems more likely than not that the Supreme Court will strike down the law. If so, depending on the reasoning, the eventual decision might be helpful to fight the California policy that does not permit a member of an unqualified party to have his or her party affiliation on the ballot, even though California does permit such party affiliations for candidates who are members of qualified parties. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

Election law professor Derek Muller has this interesting essay on the December 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

On November 9, a New Mexico state district court judge ordered Santa Fe to either use Ranked Choice Voting in the March 2018 municipal election, or else show why it can’t do that. The city law requires ranked choice voting but the city has refused to implement it, saying it isn’t ready, even though the law has been on the books almost ten years. See this story. Thanks to Electionline for this news.