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New Jersey Government Files Brief in Case on Whether Partisan Primaries are Constitutional

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Richard WingerJuly 28, 2014

On July 28, attorneys for New Jersey filed this brief in Balsam v Guadagno, U.S. District Court, 14-1388. The lawsuit was filed by some voters who argue that states cannot pay for partisan primaries. The state brief says the plaintiffs don’t have standing, and that even if they did, nothing in the U.S. Constitution prevents states from paying for partisan primaries. The state’s brief doesn’t deal with the point that, arguably, the New Jersey Constitution prohibits taxpayer money from being used for partisan primaries. But, a comprehensive case based on that point would be better off being filed in state court in any event.

Michigan Socialist Party Nominee Asks Sixth Circuit to Put Him on November Ballot

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Richard WingerJuly 28, 2014

On July 24, Matt Erard asked the Sixth Circuit to put him and four other Socialist Party nominees on the Michigan ballot this year. The basis for the case, Erard v Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, 14-1873, is: (1) Michigan’s law discriminates against new parties, relative to old minor parties, because the number of signatures is approximately twice the number of votes for an old party to remain on; (2) Michigan barred out-of-state circulators during most of the petitioning period for this year’s election and only recently repealed the law, too late to do much good; (3) language on the petition which discourages voters from signing; (4) the six-month limit on petitioning.

Illinois Republican Party Hires Students to Go Door-to-Door, Interviewing Voters Who Signed Libertarian Statewide Petition

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Richard WingerJuly 28, 2014

The “binder check” process for the Illinois Libertarian Party statewide challenge has been finished for almost a week, and the results are that the Libertarian Party has approximately 33,000 valid signatures. 25,000 are needed. Nevertheless, the Illinois Republican Party has hired college students to ring the doorbells of voters who signed the petition, asking if the voter “really” signed the petition. The challengers to the petition are now trying to invalidate all sheets circulated by certain petitioners.

In 1998, the “binder check” process also resulted in a finding that the Libertarian Party statewide petition had enough valid signatures, yet the party was still kept off the ballot when, afterwards, the State Board of Elections eliminated all the sheets circulated by certain petitioners.

It is possible evidence of this activity will be brought into the pending Illinois Green Party ballot access case, which will be heard August 13.

Vermont’s Largest Newspaper Carries Lengthy Story about Dan Feliciano, Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Richard WingerJuly 27, 2014

The Burlington Free Press, Vermont’s major newspaper, has this story about Dan Feliciano, the Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate.

Third Circuit Expedites Virgin Islands Ballot Access Case

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Richard WingerJuly 27, 2014

On July 18, the Third Circuit expedited Coffelt v Fawkes, 14-3280. Two of the three briefs have now been filed. The issue is whether members of qualified parties can use the independent candidate procedure. Virgin Islands elects Governor and Lieutenant Governor on a joint ticket. Independent gubernatorial candidate Soraya Coffelt is an independent, but her Lieutenant Governor running mate, John Canegata, is a registered Republican. The lower court kept the ticket off the ballot.