On September 6, the Massachusetts legislature’s joint Election Law Committee took testimony on SB 365. It would not permit any presidential candidate to be listed on either a presidential primary ballot, or the general election ballot, unless he or she revealed income tax returns for several years. Here is a copy of the bill. Also it would tell presidential electors that they could not vote for anyone who hadn’t released the returns. The bill had been introduced in January but had to wait eight months for a hearing. The fact that it received a hearing is a sign that it will pass.

Gary Johnson and Jill Stein will ask for a rehearing en banc in Johnson v Commission on Presidential Debates, the case that argues that the Commission on Presidential Debates is breaking federal anti-trust laws. The original 3-judge panel had ruled against Johnson and Stein on August 29.

The petition for rehearing will go to all the full-time judges of the D.C. circuit. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who wrote the August 29 opinion, will not be able to cast a vote on the rehearing, because she retired effective September 1, 2017. Thanks to Independent Political Report for this news.

This extensive Politico story about the National Popular Vote movement gives details that most articles don’t mention. It says the the strategy of the movement is to try very hard to persuade Utah to pass the plan early in 2018. The leaders of the movement feel that if one state that is completely controlled by the Republican Party passes the plan, that will make it far easier to get others to do so. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.