On December 1, Level the Playing Field filed this 3-page rebuttal brief, on the issue of whether additional evidence should be allowed in this case. The issue in this case is whether the Federal Election Commission has failed to apply federal campaign finance laws to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The FEC is trying to get certain evidence excluded.
The Kansas Republican Party is attempted to control the content of any 2018 Republican gubernatorial debates. The party itself will host debates, and specifies that (1) questions cannot be asked unless all participating candidates have a chance to answer the question; (2) the debates will not last longer than 90 minutes; (3) candidates can only talk about issues, but not about individual characteristics of opponents.
Furthermore, no candidate will be allowed to participate in any other Republican gubernatorial debate that has different rules. See this Kansas City Star editorial, which contains a link to a Wichita Eagle article giving additional details about the rules. Thanks to Nancy Brune for the link.
A PPIC poll released November 30 shows that California voters will probably see only two Democrats on the November 2018 ballot for both Governor and U.S. Senator. However, the poll also shows that 60% of California like the top-two system that would be responsible for such limited general election choices. See the details here.
On November 30, the Eighth Circuit issued an eight-page opinion in Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Martin, 16-3794. The issue was the deadline for a new party to submit its petition for party status. The old deadline was more than a year before the election, but the U.S. District Court had declared it unconstitutional on July 15, 2016. The state had then appealed to the Eighth Circuit. But after the briefs had been filed in the Eighth Circuit, the legislature improved the deadline so that it is on primary day, which is May of the election year.
Despite the legislature improving the deadline, the state continued asking the Eighth Circuit to rule that the U.S. District Court had been wrong. But the Eighth Circuit said the case is moot, and that there is little reason to fear that the legislature will make the deadline worse again in the future. The Eighth Circuit noted that the bill fixing the deadline had passed unanimously in one chamber, and only two votes were cast against it in the other chamber. The Eighth Circuit also said that the U.S. District Court had been correct to award attorneys’ fees to the attorney for the Libertarian Party.
At the oral argument, the Libertarian Party had asserted that even the new deadline is too early, but the Eighth Circuit said that is an issue for a future case, if the party wants to file a new case someday. The opinion is by Judge Roger Wollman, a Reagan appointee; and it is signed by Judge Michael Melloy and Raymond Gruender, Bush Jr. appointees.
