On April 24, the Indiana legislature passed SB 287. It authorizes party labels to be printed on the ballot for School Board candidates, even though there will be no system for parties to nominate candidates for that office. Here is the text of the bill. It is vague about whether a candidate can list the name of an unqualified party.
The Green, Libertarian, and Socialist Workers Parties are petitioning to be on for Governor of New Jersey in this year’s election. Each expects to surmount the 2,000 petition requirement that is in effect this year for the first time. Before this year, the statewide petition was 800 signatures.
The Green Party is running Stephen Zielinski; the Libertarian Party is running Vic Kaplan; the Socialist Workers Party is running Joanne Kuniansky.
Last year, a lawsuit was filed in Wyoming state court, alleging the state’s “sore loser” law violates the state constitution. On April 18 the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. The lawsuit also now challenges the new law that doesn’t let voters switch parties in order to vote in a particular primary, unless they make the switch several months before the primary. Here is the amended Complaint. Malcom v Gray, Laramie County Judicial District,, 2024-cv-0202658. Thanks to Bern Haggerty for the link.
On April 24, Florida State Senator Jason Pizzo said he is changing his registration from “Democratic” to “independent.” He was first elected to the State Senate in 2018, and re-elected in 2022. Both times he had no opponent on the November ballot. He lives in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, which is part of northern Miami. See this story. Pizzo had been the Senate Minority Leader.
The last member of the Florida legislature who was not a Democrat or a Republican was Senator Lori Wilson. She was elected as an independent in 1972, and re-elected as an independent in 1974.
On April 25, the state of New York filed its supplemental brief in Walden v Kosinski, 25-764. This is the lawsuit over an independent candidate in New York may choose “Independence” as part or all of his or her ballot label. The state’s supplemental brief insists that the ban does cover all independent candidates. The Second Circuit judges had asked both sides for a supplemental brief on whether the ban just applies to the names of qualified parties, or also to ballot labels for independents.
Later on April 25, the candidate who wants to use “Independence” as his party label filed a brief, agreeing that the law does apply to him and that it won’t permit him to use “Independence”.
This case will be decided very quickly, because we are now in the petitioning period for independent candidates in New York for 2025 elections.
