U.S. District Court Enjoins Illinois 5% Petition Requirement for Candidates for U.S. House who Make a Substantial Effort

Posted on by August 25, 2016
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On August 25, U.S. District Court Judge Sue Myerscough, an Obama appointee, enjoined the Illinois petition requirement for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, for U.S. House, at least as applied to candidates who make a very substantial effort. The 26-page decision puts David Gill on the ballot. He is an independent candidate in the 13th district. He submitted over 11,000 signatures to meet a requirement of 10,754, but was found to have 8,593 valid.

The opinion relies on the historical record showing it is extremely rare for any petitioning candidate for U.S. House to ever overcome a petition requirement greater than 10,754. UPDATE: here is the most comprehensive newspaper story about the decision, in the State Journal-Register, the Springfield daily newspaper.

Rocky De La Fuente Sues South Dakota over Petition Validity

Posted on by August 25, 2016
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On August 24, Rocky De La Fuente filed a federal lawsuit against the South Dakota Secretary of State, over whether his independent presidential petition has enough valid signatures. The state said only 57% of his signatures are valid, which is unusually low in South Dakota, which has a high rate of voter registration.

The state did not check all the signatures; it relied on a random sample. The case is De La Fuente v Krebs, 3:16cv-3035. It is assigned to Judge Roberto Lange, an Obama appointee. The judge has already set a hearing date, Tuesday, August 30, at 1 p.m.

Michigan Court of Claims Keeps Marijuana Initiative off Ballot; Proponents Will Appeal

Posted on by August 25, 2016
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On August 23, the Michigan Court of Claims ruled that a statewide initiative for marijuana legalization cannot qualify for the ballot, even though it almost certainly has enough valid signatures. Not all of the signatures were collected inside the 180-day window. See this story.

The Michigan Court of Claims is a branch of the state Appeals Court. Proponents of the initiative will appeal to the State Supreme Court. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

Green Party Regains Qualified Status in Delaware

Posted on by August 25, 2016
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August 20 was the Delaware deadline for parties to finish their registration drive, to be qualified parties in Delaware. The state requires 653 registered members and the Green Party had slipped below that number earlier this year. But the party then increased its registration to 662.

The American Delta Party put on a last-minute voter registration drive, and submitted approximately 1,000 registration cards. But because Delaware does not permit members of one party to switch their registration to another party during the months before a primary, only the new voters counted. Therefore, the American Delta Party now only has 322 registered voters, not enough to qualify for the 2016 election. The Delaware primary is September 13, the last primary in the nation.

The parties that were already qualified in Delaware are Democratic, Independent, Libertarian, and Republican.

Alaska Division of Elections Says All Presidential Petitions are Valid

Posted on by August 25, 2016
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The Alaska Division of Elections has determined that both presidential petitions that were submitted recently are valid. They are for the Green Party and the independent petition for Rocky De La Fuente. The deadline was August 10 and 3,005 signatures were needed.

The qualified parties in the state are: Alaskan Independence, Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican. The Constitution Party’s presidential petition was already verified last year.