All Arkansas Presidential Petitions are Valid

Posted on by August 11, 2016
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The Arkansas Secretary of State has determined that all presidential petitions have enough valid signatures. There were three for presidential party status, and four independent petitions. Both types of petition needed 1,000 signatures. The presidential party petitions were for the Constitution Party, the Green Party, and Better for America. The independent petitions were for Rocky De La Fuente, Jim Hedges, Tom Hoefling, and Lynn Kahn.

Arkansas has three ballot-qualified parties (for all office): Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican.

Michigan Asks Sixth Circuit to Allow the State to Omit Straight-Ticket Device

Posted on by August 11, 2016
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On August 10, attorneys for Michigan asked the Sixth Circuit to reverse the order of a U.S. District Court Judge in the lawsuit titled “Michigan State A. Philip Randolph Institute v Johnson,” 16-2115. Michigan’s legislature had repealed the straight-ticket device early in 2016. The U.S. District Court Judge last month said removing the device would injure black voters, and ordered the state to leave the device in place.

The state is also asking for an expedited decision from the Sixth Circuit.

Connecticut Concedes that Out-of-State Petitioner Ban is Unconstitutional for General Election Petitions and Presidential Primary Petitions

Posted on by August 11, 2016
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On August 9, attorneys for Connecticut settled two federal lawsuits over the state’s ban on out-of-state petitioners. The state agreed that the ban is unconstitutional for general election candidate petitions, and also petitions to get someone on a presidential primary ballot. The two cases are Libertarian Party of Connecticut v Merrill, 3:15cv-1851, and Wilmoth v Merrill, 3:16cv-223.

The state still bans out-of-state circulators for petitions to get someone on a non-presidential primary. Thanks to Dan Barrett of the Connecticut ACLU for this news.

Four Presidential Candidates File Petitions in Ohio; Evan McMullin is Not Among Them

Posted on by August 11, 2016
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August 10 was the Ohio petition deadline for presidential candidates who use the independent candidate procedure. The Secretary of State’s web page shows that only four petitions were filed: for the Libertarian slate, the Constitution slate, and independent candidates Michael Steinberg and Richard Duncan. Duncan lives in Ohio and has been on the ballot in Ohio as an independent presidential candidate in 2012 and 2008 as well, but he has never got on any other state’s ballot. Steinberg is a stand-in for Rocky De La Fuente, although it is not clear what the final names will be for that slate until after the stand-in process is completed.

Evan McMullin, the choice of some anti-Trump Republicans, did not file.

The qualified parties in Ohio are Democratic, Green, and Republican. The Libertarian Party is still waiting to see if the Sixth Circuit will put it back on the ballot. It was a qualified party 2008-2014. Thanks to Steve Linnabary for the link.