Philip Bump has this interesting analysis in the Washington Post about independent voters. He gathers survey research from several leading sources to show that a large majority of voters who tell pollsters that they are independents actually lean to one or the other of the two major parties. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
On August 17, a state court in Philadelphia removed the Green Party nominee for City Commissioner from the November 3, 2015, on the grounds that he didn’t have enough signatures. The candidate will appeal. The judge who made that decision was not moved by the fact that last month, the procedure for checking signatures had been held unconstitutional as applied to Green Party nominees. Immediately after the ruling, the judge announced that he is retiring effective immediately and that this had been his last case. Thanks to Larry Otter and Carl Romanelli for this news.
The reason the Prohibition Party’s application for qualified party status has been denied so far in Mississippi is that the party hasn’t yet furnished documentation that the state party is affiliated with the national party. That deficiency is likely to be overcome soon.
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.
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.
