On October 9, opponents of strict government-photo I.D. requirements for voting at the polls scored two victories.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Wisconsin cannot require such I.D. for the November 4, 2014 election. Here is the one-page order in Frank v Walker, 14A352.

Also, U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled the Texas law on that subject unconstitutional and in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. Veasey v Perry, southern dist., 13-cv-193. Judge Ramos is an Obama appointee. Here is the 143-page opinion, with a 4-page appendix. Thanks to Justin Levitt for the link.

On October 8, Adrian Wyllie, Libertarian nominee for Governor of Florida, filed a federal lawsuit to gain admittance into the October 15 debate, which is being sponsored by many news organization. Wyllie for Governor Campaign v Leadership Florida Statewide Community Foundation, sou. dist., 14cv-62322.

The Complaint charges that some of the organizations sponsoring the debate set a requirement that candidates must be at 12% in the polls. When that percentage was set, Wyllie was below 12%. But since then, several neutral polls have showed him above 12%, and some have shown him at 14%. The Complaint argues that after Wyllie met the 12% standard, the standard was raised to 15%.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn, an appointee of George W. Bush. He sits in Fourt Lauderdale. Here is the 25-page Complaint.

On October 9, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove held a hearing in Libertarian National Committee v Holliday, eastern district, 3:14cv-63. This is the case over whether Kentucky Educational TV excluded David Patterson, Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate, because of his views, not because of his poll standing. The debate is set for October 13 so a decision will come fairly soon. See this story, which was written while the hearing was going on and thus does not say very much about what was said. The hearing is in Lexington and started at 9 a.m.