The Sixth Circuit has asked proponents of a straight-ticket device to file a brief by Monday, August 15, in the lawsuit over whether the U.S. Constitution requires Michigan to have a straight-ticket device. The U.S. District Court had ruled that Michigan cannot repeal the device because removing the device injures black voters. The case is Michigan State A. Philip Randolph Institute v Johnson.

Another pending Michigan ballot access lawsuit that must be settled before ballots are printed is the case in state court, over whether the marijuana initiative has enough valid signatures. The initiative does have enough valid signatures (almost certainly) if all their signatures may be submitted. But the state rejected some of the signatures because they had been collected outside the 6-month window. The 6-month window was not actually in the law when the proponents started collecting their signatures; it was a regulation only. But the legislature passed a law setting the 6-month limit after the petition began to circulate.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this editorial, saying Ohio’s ballot access laws relating to minor parties are “a disgrace.”

Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court in Illinois struck down the law requiring newly-qualifying parties to file a full slate of candidates. The state filed a notice of appeal, but has now asked for an extension of time to file its brief three times. The court has given the state until September 16 to file.