The Ninth Circuit has three California cases filed by minor parties or independent candidates. Soltysik v Padilla, 16-55758, challenges state law that won’t let members of unqualified parties have their party label on ballots, if they are running for Congress or partisan state office. That case is moving slowly and no briefs have been filed. The plaintiff is a registered Socialist.

De La Fuente v Padilla, 16-56261, is an appeal of the denial of a preliminary injunction. It challenges the law that requires an independent presidential candidate to collect 178,039 valid signatures in 105 days. The court has already determined that the case is not suitable for mediation, and briefs will probably be filed soon, although no matter what happens, it is unlikely that the 2016 ballot will be affected.

Independent Party v Padilla, 16-15895, challenges a decision by the Secretary of State that the Independent Party cannot become a political body because its name is so similar to the American Independent Party, which is already on the ballot. The Independent Party’s opening brief was filed on August 25, 2016.

The new voter registration data for Colorado shows that Libertarian registration is now at 1.02% of the state total. This is the first time Libertarian registration has exceeded 1% of any state’s total, except that the Alaska Libertarian registration has been above that level for approximately a decade.

Alaska law permits a party to remain ballot-qualified if it has registration equal to 3% of the last vote cast, so the Alaska Libertarian Party constantly goes on registration drives to remain on the ballot. By contrast, the Colorado Libertarian registration just happened naturally, without a concerted party effort to increase its registration.

The new data means that the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, Lily Tang Williams, will be allowed into one particular debate. See this story. The story makes it seem as though it is rare for Colorado minor party and independent candidates to be invited into debates, but on October 14, 2014, all six gubernatorial candidates who were on the ballot debated each other. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.

The Kentucky Secretary of State has determined that Jill Stein’s presidential petition is valid. The office won’t check the De La Fuente and McMullin petitions until they are submitted, of course. The petition deadline in Kentucky is Friday, September 9.