On June 2, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that at its May 29 conference, it had decided not to hear Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 24-684. Thus the Court continues its 34-year practice of refusing to hear all cert petitions filed by minor parties and independent candidates on ballot access. The case had been filed to challenge the May petition deadline in New York, which has existed since 2019. Previous to 2019 it had been August.

Because the Second Circuit had refused to decide the constitutionality of the May petition deadline, it is very likely that a new challenge to that deadline will be filed. The Green Party and the Libertarian Party will probably challenge it in connection with the 2026 election. The deadline makes it impossible to petition during the summer of election years, when there are many outdoor venues of crowds, which helps petitioning.

On July 26, the Forward Party of Minnesota and the Independence-Alliance Party of Minnesota are expected to approve a merger. See this IndependentPoliticalReport story.

Neither party is ballot-qualified. In Minnesota, the only parties that are on the ballot currently are Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican. There is a so-called “minor party” category in Minnesota law, but it doesn’t relate to ballot access.

On May 7, the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Campaigns & Elections passed AB 35. It lets independent candidates withdraw. However, they must pay a fee to withdraw. The fee for statewide offices is $1,000.

Last year independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wanted to withdraw, but the law did not permit him to do that.