The Texas Tribune has this story about the Texas procedures for independent presidential candidates. The story would be better if it mentioned that the petition deadline for independents running for office other than President is June 30, whereas the presidential independent deadline is May 9. Anyone who challenges the Texas independent presidential petition deadline is overewhelmingly likely to win in court. There is no state interest in requiring independent presidential candidates to file petitions 52 days earlier before other independent candidates must file. The U.S. Supreme Court said in Anderson v Celebrezze that states must have easier ballot access procedures for independent presidential candidates than for other office.

Another deficiency with the Texas law is that presidential independents need 79,939 signatures, whereas independent candidates for other statewide office need 47,086. The U.S. Supreme Court said in Anderson v Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, at page 795, “The state has a less important interest in regulating Presidential elections than statewide or local elections”, and this quote was a key element of the March 17, 2016 U.S. District Court decision that struck down Georgia’s petition requirement of 50,000 signatures for independent and new party presidential ballot access.

The National Archives’ web page has this compendium of state laws on punishment for presidential electors who cast a vote in the Electoral College in December for someone other than the candidates they were pledged to.

The list of states says there are three state laws that say electors who vote “disobediently” shall be deemed to have resigned and will be replaced by the remaining electors. The list says these states are Michigan, North Carolina, and South Carolina. However, the South Carolina law does not actually say that, and furthermore the South Carolina law says the state chair of the political party involved may absolve a disobedient elector if the state chair believes that the elector’s behavior was beneficial.

For Michigan and North Carolina, the law saying that a disobedient elector automatically resigns, and will be replaced by the other electors, would not function effectively if all of the electors from that state disobeyed; there would be no one to replace them. Thanks to Jerrick Adams of Ballotpedia for the link.

RHode Island political activists and politicians weigh on on Bob Healey, who died March 20. Healey was founder of the Cool Moose Party, the most successful third party in Rhode Island in the last 90 years. He also got a higher share of the vote in 2014 for Governor, as the Moderate Party nominee, than any other minor party gubernatorial candidate that year. Thanks to Timothy McKee for the link.