On February 12, U.S. District Court Judge Andrea Wood held a status conference in Libertarian Party of Illinois v Illinois State Board of Elections, n.d., 1:12cv-2511. This is the case that challenges the requirement that a newly-qualifying party must run a full slate of candidates. The case had been filed in April 2012. Judge Wood said she will try to put out a decision in the next seven days. The case has been delayed because it has repeatedly been re-assigned from one judge to another. This is something that U.S. District Courts do when a new judge begins to work. The new judge is always given some old cases that had previously belong to another judge, but that has happened twice in this case.

On January 30, a trial court in San Diego County, California, refused to enjoin the city of Del Mar from holding an internet election on an advisory ballot measure. The court allowed the election to go ahead, despite the California election code, because the measure is only to gage public opinion and has no legal effect. The case is Mohns v City of Del Mar. Here is a link to commentary by the attorney for the voter who tried to stop the election, decrying the outcome. Here is an article that explains how the city is conducting the election. Every resident of Del Mar receives a unique passcode from the city. The election asks voters to indicate a preference for one of three proposed designs for a new city hall. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link to the commentary.

Greg Orman, the independent candidate last year for U.S. Senate in Kansas, has this article in The Hill. The article points out the extreme disparity between how much an individual can give to an independent candidate for federal office, versus how much an individual can give to a political party.