On July 19, the Fourth Circuit refused to rehear Sarvis v Alcorn, the Virginia Libertarian case that challenges the Virginia law on ballot order for candidates.
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A Michigan state court is expected to issue a ruling very soon on whether statewide initiative petitions must be collected within 180 days. At issue is whether a marijuana legalization initiative gets on the ballot. See this story.
Mike Depoister was elected to the Effingham County, Illinois County Board as a Republican in 2012. Late last year, he said he would run for re-election as an independent. He submitted a petition, but on July 12 he was removed from the November ballot on the grounds that he had voted in the March 2016 Republican primary.
Illinois has had a law since 2012 which does not allow anyone to be an independent candidate if he or she voted in a party primary earlier that same year. DePoister recently filed a lawsuit in state court, arguing that the new law violates the U.S. Constitution. He also argues that the objection to his petition is flawed. The case is DePoister v Effingham County Electoral Board, 16-MR-69, in Effingham County Circuit Court.
Three statewide initiative petitions were filed in Arizona this year. According to this story, all three of them face court challenges.
On July 15, the Federal Election Commission asked that Better for America not be permitted to file an amicus curiae brief in Level the Playing Field v FEC. Better for America is the group that hopes to recruit a prominent conservative to run for president as an independent this year. The FEC says it is too late for any more amicus briefs, because all the briefs of the parties to the case have been submitted.