Third Party Watch his a blog post giving the text of a talk by former Libertarian Party national chair Angela McArdle, describing how she first came in contact with 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump and how she asked him to pardon Ross Ulbricht.
UPDATE: here is a link to a video of the talk.
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Republican National Committee v Genser, 24-786, on May 29. This is the case in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had ruled that if a voter who voted by postal mail forgot to put the date on the outer envelope, that same voter can still cast a provisional ballot on election day. The Republican National Committee argued that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court cannot make such a ruling, on the theory that the U.S. Constitution leaves no room for state courts to interpret election laws that affect federal elections.
On May 13, the Pennsylvania House passed HB 1396 by 102-101. Among other things, it removes the requirement that voters who vote by mail must add the date of mailing to the outer envelope. It also makes it easier to vote early. However, the bill is not likely to pass the State Senate.
On April 4, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed SB 1157. It changes the law for independent presidential candidate petitions. The petitions no longer need to include the vice-presidential nominee. Instead, after the petition is submitted and approved, the independent presidential candidate notifies the Secretary of State of the identity of the vice presidential candidate by September 1.
This bill only came into existence because Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had sued. The lawsuit is still pending but it is likely it will now be dismissed.
On May 1, the Hawaii legislature passed HB 134. It allows candidates to file electronically.
