On October 5, Pennsylvania U.S. House member Tim Murphy, a Republican representing the 18th district, said he will resign from the U.S. House effective October 21. This means a special election is likely, probably in December 2017 or January 2018. In Pennsylvania, in special elections, qualified parties choose their nominees by convention.

The Libertarian Party and the Green Party have limited status as qualified parties in Pennsylvania. Although they must petition for their nominees in regular elections, they don’t need any petition in special elections. The 18th district is in southwest Pennsylvania. Ever since the district was created in 2011, there have been no minor party or independent candidates in that district.

The voters of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed a ballot measure in 2008 saying the city should use ranked choice voting in city elections. The city still hasn’t implemented it. The supporters of ranked choice voting sued the city in the State Supreme Court last month, but that court refused to hear the case.

In response, the supporters of RCV have refiled their case in lower state court. The lower state court must hear the case. See this story. Thanks to Electionline for the link.

Washington state does not permit independent or minor party presidential candidates to begin petitioning until the candidate or group publishes a newspaper notice. In 2016, Rocky De La Fuente failed to get on the ballot in Washington, despite filing over 1,000 valid signatures, because he had not published the required newspaper notice. He had posted the required information on the internet.

Last year, he filed a constitutional case against the newspaper publication requirement. The case has moved slowly, but the briefing schedule is now set. All the briefs will have been filed by November 10, 2017. The case is De La Fuente v Wyman, w.d., 3:16v-5801.