The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Miller v Nelson, 24-854, at its March 21, 2025 conference. This is the lawsuit that challenges virtually all of Texas’ ballot access laws for minor parties and independent candidates.
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On February 24, Cornel West filed this brief in U.S. District Court in Ortiz v North Carolina State Board of Elections, e.d., 5:24cv-420. West won injunctive relief last year and he and his party were placed on the ballot. Now he hopes to obtain a ruling that the Board’s actions last year were unconstitutional. That would protect petitioning minor parties in the future from being told that even though the county boards said they had enough valid signatures, the petition would not be honored.
On March 1, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of New York City. The election is in November 2025 and the primaries are in June 2025.
Cuomo is directly responsible for New York’s terrible lack of choices on the November 2024 ballot. New York was the only state in the nation in which Joe Biden and Donald Trump were the only listed candidates. It seems that as he campaigns for Mayor, there will be many opportunities for New York voters to ask him about that, and whether he now regrets his actions.
On February 24, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s New York ballot access case. Kennedy v Cartwright, 24-646. New York had kept Kennedy off the ballot because the state courts believed that the residence address on his paperwork was inaccurate. Before the election, the U.S. Supreme Court denied him injunctive relief. He kept the case alive and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that it violates Article Two to require a presidential candidates to place their residence address on candidacy paperwork.
Kennedy’s cert petition has an appendix which shows that other states besides New York also require the residence address. The appendix has copies of independent presidential paperwork. See it here.
The Wyoming Senate took no action on HB 173 by the end of business on Friday, February 28. Therefore, under legislative rules, it cannot pass. This is the bill that increased the petition requirement from 2% of the last vote, to 3% for statewide office and 5% for legislative office. Also it moved the petition deadline for independent candidates from late August to June. Also it said that no one could be an independent candidate who was a registered member of a party.
This outcome is quite surprising, given that the bill had passed the House and the Senate Committee. It is believed that the leader of the Wyoming Senate opposed the bill and worked to kill the bill.