This New York Times has this op-ed by Quin Hilyer, an Alabama resident and an observer of Alabama politics and government.  It predicts that Roy Moore will win the September 26 Republican run-off primary for U.S. Senate, and also the December 12, 2017 special election.

There won’t be anyone on the ballot in the general election except the Republican and Democratic nominees, because Alabama petition requirements for non-presidential office are so severe.  No one has completed the Alabama 3% petition for statewide office since the deadline was moved to the date of the first primary, which happened in 2005.  Alabama, Montana and New Mexico are the only states in which the non-presidential statewide independent petition requirement is higher than 2% of the last vote cast.

Thanks to Howard Bashman for the link.

The U.S. District Court in Los Angeles had been set to hear De La Fuente v Padilla, 2:16cv-3242, on August 21.  However that hearing has been postponed until September 11.  The issue is the California law that requires independent presidential candidates to submit almost 200,000 valid signatures in order to be on the ballot.

Pennsylvania holds statewide partisan elections for judicial offices on November 7, 2017.  Voters will be asked to vote for four candidates for Superior Court, which is a statewide office.  The Green Party petitioned for Jules Mermelstein for that office, and submitted 4,300 signatures.  The requirement for that office for general election petitions is 2,500.  No one challenged Mermelstein’s petition, so he will be on the ballot.  The only other candidates are four Democrats and four Republicans.

The petition requirement for this office is lower than it has in the past, as a result of the U.S. District Court decision last year in Constitution Party v Cortes.  The new requirements for statewide general election petitions, which were negotiated but not yet approved by the legislature, are 5,000 for the more important offices, and 2,500 for less important offices.