On June 5, the First Circuit held oral arguments on whether to grant Maine state representative Laurel D. Libby injunctive relief that would enable her to speak in the State House of Representatives. The U.S. Supreme Court already granted her injunctive relief letting her vote on the floor of the State House. But the U.S. Supreme Court did not consider the issue of her ability to speak. Libby v Fecteau, 36-1385.

The oral argument lasted for one hour and twelve minutes. Listen to it at this link.

In April the First Circuit had denied injunctive relief to Libby on both voting and speaking. In April the three judges were Gustavo Gelpi, William J. Kayatta, and Lara Montecalvo. But on June 5, there was a different panel, including only one judge who had been on the case in April, Judge Montecalvo. The two other judges on June 5 were Seth Aframe and Camille Velez-Rive.

Ever since 1956, a reference book called “America Votes” has been published every two years, after each congressional election. It has been by far the best election returns publication for the United States. Sadly, the publisher has discontinued it and there will be no “America Votes 2024”.

Each volume had the county-by-county vote for every general election within each state for president, U.S. Senate, and Governor. Each volume had maps of the U.S. House boundaries. Each volume had vote returns for every ballot-listed candidate, and for the declared write-ins as well. Each volume also had primary election returns, including presidential primaries. Each volume also had a summary of past U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections from 1946 to the present day. The books were typically about 525 pages for presidential years, and 475 pages for midterm years.

Most large and medium-sized public libraries in the United States carry the books.

Before the internet existed, states published books containing their own election results, but almost all states have stopped doing that, because the results are generally on state election office websites. But they are often difficult to find and can be difficult to read. Also some states tabulate the write-in votes for declared write-in candidates, but do not put those write-in totals on the state websites.

On June 4, the plaintiffs challenging certain Illinois ballot access laws filed this brief in Team Kennedy v Illinois State Board of Elections, n.d., 1:24cv-7027. The plaintiffs are the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. independent campaign, the Illinois Libertarian Party, and independent U.S. House candidate Angel Oakley.

The case challenges the 90-day window for circulating independent and minor party petitions, the law that says circulators who circulated a primary petition anywhere in the U.S. cannot circulate a general election petition, and the requirement that each sheet be notarized.