On September 16, the Second Circuit issued a six-page order in Martins v Pidot, 16-3028, explaining why it canceled the Republican primary for U.S. House, 3rd district. The three judges had ruled from the bench three days ago but had not yet explained why. The U.S. District Court had ordered a new Republican primary because one of the two candidates, Philip Pidot, had been excluded from the ballot even though he had enough valid signatures.

The thrust of the Second Circuit order, although not expressed clearly, is that because Pidot lost in state court, he can’t go to federal court. Thanks to Thomas Jones and Rick Hasen for the link.

The Pennsylvania Elections Department has posted the candidate list for federal and state office, for November 2016. For the first time since 2002, there are no independent candidates for either branch of Congress. The only non-Democratic, non-Republican candidates for U.S. House are two Libertarians (districts 15 and 16). For U.S. Senate, there is a Libertarian.

For State Senate, there are no minor party candidates. There are two independents, in districts 31 and 41. The party labels are abbreviated in the state’s list. “NOA” stands for “No affiliation.” “USM” stands for “U.S. Minutemen.”

For State House, there are four Libertarians, three Greens, and five independents. “KMI” stands for “Kate McGraw Independent.” One of the independents, Louis Jasikoff, in the 117th district, is a member of the Libertarian Party, but he chose the label “independent.”

On September 15, the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission determined that Shawn O’Connor, an independent candidate for U.S. House, 1st district, should remain on the ballot. Democratic Party officials had challenged his position on the ballot, on the grounds that some of his signers had also signed a petition for another petitioning candidate for the same office. But the Commission ruled 4-1 that the law forbidding signing for two candidates can’t be enforced, because the petition form does not warn signers that they can’t sign two petitions for the same office. See this story.

The U.S. House race, 1st district, has five candidates on the ballot: a Democrat, a Libertarian, a Republican, and two independents.