On July 13, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled that Warren Redlich may proceed with a trial against his 2010 Republican opponent, Carl Paladino, and others. Redlich is suing for defamation. Here is the three-page opinion in Redlich v Stone, 4448 109005/11. Redlich was the Libertarian nominee for New York Governor. He polled 48,386 votes. If he had polled 50,000, the Libertarian Party would have become ballot-qualified in New York for the first and only time. Without the defamatory actions taken against Redlich just prior to election day, he might have polled 50,000 votes.

New York city holds a primary for Mayor and other city office on September 12. Four candidates submitted petitions to be on the primary ballot for Mayor: Rocky De La Fuente, Walter Iwachiw, Nicole Malliotakis, and Paul J. Massey.

On July 13, Paul Merritt filed this amended Complaint in Merritt v Padilla, c.d., 8:16cv-606. This is the case over the California Voter Guide, a pamphlet sent to every registered California voter. Candidates for federal or state office can pay to have a statement in the Guide. Under state law, no part of a candidate’s statement may be amended unless a voter or the Secretary of State files a lawsuit for that purpose during the “public examination” period, before the book is printed.

But Paul Merritt, who was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016, had his statement altered, even though neither the Secretary of State nor anyone else filed such a lawsuit. The Secretary of State didn’t even tell Merritt that his statement had been changed, and Merritt only found out when the Orange County elections office informed him. Merritt had written that he was a “registered independent voter” (which was true) but the Secretary of State changed it to read he had “no party preference.” This amended complaint alleges that the Secretary of State violated Merritt’s due process rights. The judge in this case already ruled that the Secretary of State did not violate Merritt’s First Amendment rights, but allowed this amended complaint to be filed over the issue of the procedure the Secretary of State used.