The Guardian has this story about U.S. ballot access laws, as applied to the theoretical possibility that Donald Trump might leave the Republican Party race and run outside the two major parties.
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According to this story, on August 17 the Virginia Senate adjourned the special session that had been called to redraw U.S. House districts. Therefore, a federal court will draw the new lines. It seems somewhat likely that in 2016, there will be U.S. House district boundaries in Virginia, Florida, Alabama, and perhaps Texas. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Tahlequah Daily Press here editorializes that is believes the Democratic Party of Oklahoma acted wisely when it recently decided to let independent voters vote in all its primaries, including the March 1, 2016 presidential primary.
On August 17, the Oregon Secretary of State released a new voter registration tally, which shows that the Independent Party, for the first time, has enough registered members to qualify for a primary. It needed 5% at that tally and just barely made it. See this announcement from the Secretary of State.
The party has been ballot-qualified since 2007, but, like Oregon’s other parties (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) has been nominating by convention.
Ironically, the Independent Party will now have a much more difficult time cross-endorsing the nominees of other parties. Parties that nominate by convention are free to nominate anyone who is a nominee of another party. But it is very difficult for two parties that each nominate by primary to nominate each other’s nominees. No one get can on an Oregon primary ballot unless he or she is a registered member of that party. However, Oregon allows write-ins in primaries, so fusion between such parties is not completely banned.
The Independent Party was formed by Oregon voters who wanted to make it easier for independent candidates to get on the general election ballot.
The New York Times says in this analysis that the June 18, 2015 U.S. Supreme Court opinion Reed v Town of Gilbert is having a big impact on other free speech cases in lower courts. The article mentions the recent opinion from U.S. District Court in New Hampshire that struck down a state law making it illegal to photograph one’s own completed ballot and then show the picture to anyone. Thanks to How Appealing for the link.