U.S. District Court Expedites Nevada Green Party Ballot Access Case, Holds Hearing

Posted on by August 30, 2016
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On August 16, the Nevada Green Party filed a lawsuit against the June 3 petition deadline for petitions for unqualified parties to submit their signatures. On August 26, U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey, an Obama appointee, moved the hearing from August 31 to August 29. That hearing was held. See this newspaper story about the hearing. Three Democratic voters intervened in the case on the side of the state, saying they would be injured if Jill Stein gets on the ballot. The case is Nevada Green Party v Cegavske, 2:16cv-1951. An opinion is expected soon.

The basis for the lawsuit is that in 1992, a U.S. District Court had enjoined the deadline, which was June 10 back then. The legislature had moved the deadline to July the following year. But over the years, the legislature forgot why it had done that, and moved it back to April, and then in 2015 moved it to early June.

Pennsylvania Minor Parties Appeal U.S. District Court Order that Imposed County Distribution Requirement for Some Statewide Offices

Posted on by August 29, 2016
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On July 29, the Pennsylvania minor parties that had won a U.S. District Court order on June 30, 2016, lowering the number of signatures for statewide petitions, filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit. The only issue for the appeal is that the U.S. District Court order had invented a county distribution requirement for state office, for minor party and independent candidate statewide petitions. The parties’ brief is due September 26.

County distribution requirements for statewide general election candidates have completely ceased to exist in the United States, so it was odd that the U.S. District Court had included such requirements in his otherwise good court order of June 30. There are twenty court decisions striking down county distribution requirements for statewide petitions of all types. They are based on the principle that, because counties are unequal in population, county distribution requirements give more power to rural areas than urban areas. The Third Circuit case number is 16-3266. The plaintiffs include the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties.

FEC Publishes Annual Free Book with Contact Information for Election Officials of All States

Posted on by August 29, 2016
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Every year, the Federal Election Commission publishes a book that contains contact information for state election officials for all states. The book is always titled “Combined Federal/State Disclosure and Election Directory.” The newest version is labeled “2016”. The book is available free to anyone who requests it. The FEC phone number is 800-424-9530. Push the button for “Public Records” (#2). The 2016 book has 144 pages and includes U.S. territories as well.