On October 31, James Hall filed this brief in his ballot access case, Hall v Bennett. Hall is trying to get on the ballot for the December 17, 2013 special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, First District. There will probably be a decision near the end of this week.

The link also includes the very interesting declarations of the candidate, about his efforts to complete the petition; another interesting declaration from the leader of the Alabama Constitution Party; and a third interesting declaration from another candidate in this election who tried to qualify.

On November 1, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office said the Libertarian Party’s petition has enough valid names, so the party is back on the ballot. The Secretary of State is still working on checking the Green Party petition. Arkansas requires 10,000 valid signatures for party status. Libertarians had turned in approximately 16,000 recently; Greens submitted approximately 14,500.

The 2014 election will be the first midterm election year in which the Libertarian Party has been on the ballot in Arkansas. The state requires a vote of 3% for the office at the top of the ticket, every two years, for a party to remain ballot-qualified. In other words, only the vote for President and Governor counts for retention of party status.

Every three months, the Arizona Secretary of State releases a new voter registration tally. The October 1, 2013 figures are here. The link also shows the July 1, 2013 totals. The state’s three qualified minor parties have all increased their totals, even though the number of registered voters has declined. The number of independent voters has also increased. The number of registered Democrats and the number of registered Republicans are lower than they were three months earlier.