On January 5, the Minnesota Democratic Party announced that four presidential candidates had qualified to participate in the 2016 caucus. They are Hillary Clinton, Rocky De La Fuente, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders. See this story.
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On January 4, the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties filed this brief in the Third Circuit, in Cortes v Constitution Party of Pennsylvania, 15-3046. The issue is the Pennsylvania system that puts petitioning groups at risk if they submit a petition that is held not to have enough valid signatures. The parties won on this issue in the U.S. District Court, and now the state is trying to get that decision reversed.
On January 5, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed SB 13, which eliminates the straight-ticket device. Thanks to Bill Hall for this news.
The District of Columbia presidential primary is the latest in the nation, June 14. That is so late, the Republican Party decided to use a caucus in D.C. instead. January 4, 2016 was the deadline for Republicans to qualify for the caucus. They either had to pay a fee of $15,000; or they had to pay $7,500 and submit 150 signatures of registered Republicans.
Three candidates collected signatures: Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio. Seven other candidates paid the larger fee and skipped the petition: Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, and Donald Trump. Thanks to Michael Beckel for the news.
On January 4, the Libertarian Party of Maine filed a lawsuit, arguing that it should be recognized as a political party in Maine. Here is the Complaint. The case is Libertarian Party of Maine v Dunlap.