On March 8, Rocky De La Fuente and Jill Stein filed this opening brief in their Oklahoma ballot access case, De La Fuente v Ziriax, 17-6010. The issue is the 2016 requirement that an independent presidential candidate file a petition of 40,047 signatures, even though an entire new party could get on the ballot for 24,745, and an independent candidate for office other than president needs no petition at all.

The U.S. District Court had upheld the law, saying that because President is such an important office, the state has an interest in more difficult requirements for president than for other office. The U.S. District Court ignored the point that the U.S. Supreme Court had said the exact opposite in Anderson v Celebrezze.

If the legislature passes SB 145, this case will be moot. That bill has already passed the Senate. It eases ballot access for independent presidential candidates and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties.

This Washington Post story reveals that several Republican candidates for statewide office in this year’s Virginia primaries were willing to stand in line for hours. They thought being first in line meant they would be listed first on the ballot. As the story explains, however, those who did so were wasting their time, because state officials interpreted the law to mean that everyone who was there at noon on March 13 essentially tied with everyone else who was there at that hour. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

On March 7, the Hawaii Senate passed SB 462 unanimously. It deletes the requirement that candidate petitions ask signers to show the last four digits of their Social Security Number. Unfortunately the bill does not delete the same requirement for the petition to create a new party. But if this bill passes, it seems likely the new party petition might also be reformed in the near future.