On January 15, attorneys for the Connecticut Secretary of State filed a 15-page brief in defense of the ban on out-of-state circulators. The state brief says that Connecticut ballot access procedures for minor parties and independents are easier than the procedures of most states. This is not true and can be rebutted. Between the period 1992 and 2012, the Connecticut general election ballot only had 3.2 presidential candidates on the ballot (in addition to the Democratic and Republican nominees), whereas the average state had 4.4 such candidates. Connecticut was 36th among the 51 jurisdictions that participate in presidential elections. This data is in the June 1, 2014 print issue of Ballot Access News.

To show how difficult Connecticut ballot access is, only Gary Johnson successfully petitioned for President in Connecticut in 2012. The Green Party nominee has not appeared on the Connecticut ballot in either of the last two presidential elections.

The government brief also says that the Libertarian Party was able to place its presidential nominee on the ballot in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections. But if the state had included the entire history of the Libertarian Party, it would have had to admit that the Libertarian Party has failed to place its presidential nominee on the Connecticut ballot in four of the eleven presidential elections it participated in: 1972, 1976, 1984, and 2008.

The state also says that challenges to petitions are common in Connecticut, and if there is a challenge, and it goes to court, and the circulator lives out-of-state, it will take longer for that circulator to arrive in Connecticut and that would delay such lawsuits. The state brief does not even discuss the rights of petition circulators themselves.

On January 14, 2016, proponents of an Ohio initiative sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted over his actions involving the validity of the initiative. Ohio law says that if proponents of an initiative submit a petition signed by 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, the idea for the initiative must be sent to the legislature. The legislature has four months to either enact some version of the idea, or reject it entirely. Then, if the proponents are unhappy with the legislature’s action, they must submit another 3% petition. Then, the issue is put on the ballot.

Proponents of an initiative to lower certain drug costs submitted 171,205 signatures on December 22, 2015. They needed 91,677 valid signatures. The petition was sent to the counties, and they reported that 119,031 signatures were valid.

Then, the Secretary of State asked the counties to check again. The proponents of the lawsuit say that the Secretary of State only asked the counties to re-check the petition after attorneys for drug companies asked him. Proponents of the initiative say nothing in Ohio law permits the Secretary of State to ask the counties to re-do their work, after they have done it the first time. The proponents also point out that the re-checking process will delay the legislative timeline, making it impossible for them to get their initiative on the ballot in time for the November 2016 election. The case is Jones v Husted, s.d., 2:16cv-38. It is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson.

The reference book America Votes 2013-2014 is now published. It is also known as America Votes 31. Ever since 1956, every two years, another version is published. America Votes is the single best book of election returns to be published. Although the federal government also publishes election return books, they don’t include election returns for any state office. Also they don’t have nearly as much detail as America Votes does. America Votes has maps and all the statewide election returns are by county, not just state totals. The author of America Votes 31, as usual, is Rhodes Cook.

The Federal Elections Commission’s book of election returns for 2014 still isn’t published. When it is published, it will be titled Federal Elections 2014.