On February 17, Jim Walden filed this brief in Walden v Kosinski, e.d., 1:25cv-72. This is the lawsuit filed by an independent candidate for Mayor of New York City. He wants his ballot label to be “Independence”. New York in general permits independent candidates to choose a partisan label for the ballot. But a new law forbids any qualified party from having the word “Independence” in its name. Walden challenges that law on First Amendment grounds.

The New York City Board of Elections has notified the court that it takes no position, so it will be up to the New York State Board to defend the law.

The Georgia Libertarian Party is in the Eleventh Circuit in its ballot access case over U.S. House petition requirements. Cowen v Raffensperger, 24-13164. The state’s brief had been due on February 17, but the state asked for another month, and that request has been granted.

On February 6, the Wyoming Senate passed SF 98, which says that in school board races, the party affiliation of each candidate should be listed. On February 12, the Wyoming House Corporations Committee also passed it.

There would be no party nominees in school board races, so the labels don’t mean that the party approves of any particular candidate.

Wyoming doesn’t permit voters to register into non-qualified parties. The voter registration form doesn’t have a blank line for party choice; it just has checkboxes for the qualified parties, plus a box to register as independent.