As reported previously, on September 30, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson had ruled that independent candidates cannot be forced to submit a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in special congressional elections, because the time period for circulating such petitions is so much shorter than in a regular election. The state filed a notice of appeal on October 28, and its brief was to be due December 27, 2016.

However the state has requested a time extention, so now its brief is due January 26, 2017. This case has growing importance if U.S. Senate Jeff Sessions resigns early next year to become Attorney General of the United States, and if (as expected) Alabama then calls a special U.S. Senate election sometime in the first half of 2017. The case is Hall v Merrill, 16-16766. The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) is helping with some of the expenses of this case. COFOE greatly appreciates all the individuals who have joined COFOE and, with their dues, made this possible.

Ballot Access News
December 1, 2016 – Volume 32, Number 7

1. MAINE VOTERS PASS INITIATIVE TO USE INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING FOR CONGRESS AND ALL STATE OFFICE
2. SOUTH DAKOTA VOTERS REJECT NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS
3. COLORADO VOTERS PASS THREE ELECTION LAW MEASURES
4. BENTON COUNTY, OREGON, PASSES INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING
5. COURT INVALIDATES WISCONSIN GERRYMANDER
6. TWO DE LA FUENTE BALLOT ACCESS CASES SURVIVE MOTIONS TO DISMISS
7. OCTOBER 2016 REGISTRATION TOTALS
8. 2016 PRESIDENTIAL VOTE (NOT FINAL!)
9. 2018 PETITIONING FOR STATEWIDE OFFICE
10. VERMONT PROGRESSIVE PARTY ELECTS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
11. GUAM PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
12. OTHER MINOR PARTY WINS IN PARTISAN ELECTIONS
13. NEW YORK REFORM PARTY BREAKS FREE FROM REPUBLICAN CONTROL
14. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL

Alton, Illinois, holds a partisan city election on April 4, 2017. An independent candidate for Mayor, Danny Rauschkolb, filed a petition but that petition has been challenged. No one alleges he lacks enough valid signatures. But the challengers say he can’t run as an independent because he filed a petition to run in the Democratic primary for the same office earlier. That petition was rejected because he didn’t include a receipt showing he had filed a statement of economic interests.

This article explains the details. Illinois voter registration forms do not ask applicants for a choice of party, or whether the applicant is an independent. Therefore the challengers’ reliance on the U.S. Supreme Court opinion Storer v Brown is not fully relevant. Storer v Brown upheld a California law that required independent candidates not to have been registered members of a qualified party, but California had partisan registration.