The Ohio legislature is one of the few state legislatures that is meeting in September and October. According to this story, it may pass redistricting reform.
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The case pending in U.S. District Court over whether the Michigan legislature violated the U.S. Constitution when it repealed the straight-ticket device is likely to be decided by a federal jury. The trial is set to begin February 6, 2018, at 9 a.m. Discovery must be completed by September 29, 2017. The case is Michigan State A. Philip Randolph Institute v Johnson, e.d., 2:16cv-11844.
The Los Angeles Times has this story about the Peoples Party of Seattle. So far it has only run candidates in non-partisan elections. It seems to be a re-branding of the Socialist Alternative Party. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.
On September 8, the plaintiffs in Wilding v Democratic National Committee Services filed an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. This is the lawsuit in which Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016 who had contributed to the national Democratic Party had filed a class action lawsuit against the party. They charged that the party defrauded them because, even though its national rules pledged neutrality, in fact top officials of the party actively helped Hillary Clinton and worked against Bernie Sanders.
On August 25, the U.S. District Court in the southern district of Florida had dismissed the lawsuit, without allowing for a trial. Thanks to the Independent Voters Network for this news.
Peter Baker, the New York Times White House correspondent, writes here that President Donald J. Trump is “in many ways, the first independent president” since the Civil War. He says this because Trump does not appear to act as a Republican Party leader, nor does he seem to cooperate very closely with Republicans in congress. The story also mentions that he has changed his party affiliation five times during his lifetime. He has been a registered Democrat, and a registered member of the Independence Party, as well as a registered Republican. The first time he ran for president was 2000, when he briefly sought the Reform Party nomination and won two Reform Party presidential primaries, in California and Michigan. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.