The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has this editorial, criticizing Pennsylvania ballot access. It is unusual for Pennsylvania newspapers to mention the problem that parties can’t remain on the ballot unless they have registration membership of 15% of the state total, which is over 1,000,000 registered members. This editorial does mention that problem.
See this story for an update on the Florida state court lawsuit over the boundaries of the state’s U.S. House districts. A decision is expected in the new few days on what will be done about the fact that on July 10, the boundaries of some of the districts were ruled unlawful.
This Chicago Sun-Times story says the challengers to the Libertarian Party of Illinois statewide petition, having failed to invalidate enough individual signatures, are trying to invalidate all the work of certain petitioners. The story features Brian Lambrecht, chair of the DuPage County Libertarian Party. The challengers are trying to argue that all the 1,400 signatures he collected should be invalidated because, they say, he is not registered at the correct address, a contention which he strongly disputes.
On July 29, U.S. District Court Judge Stewart Dalzell set a hearing for July 31, at 10 a.m., in courtroom 15B, for Green Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, eastern district, 2:14cv-3299. The hearing is at the U.S. District Courthouse in Philadelphia. The Green and Libertarian Parties will present witnesses and will argue for an injunction on these issues: (1) the ban on out-of-state circulators; (2) the notarization requirement; (3) the rule against mixing signatures from residents of different counties on the same sheet, given that the state has its own statewide database of registered voters; (4) the requirement that each petition signer include the year in the “date signed” column; (5) whether the election law, read by its plain words, means that anyone eligible to register to vote (and not just registered voters) may sign petitions. Thanks to Bill Redpath for this news. Bill Redpath, who has collected tens of thousands of signatures for the Libertarian Party in many states, and who wants to work in Pennsylvania (even though he is a Virginia resident) will be one of the witnesses.
According to this story, an Idaho trial court in Twins Falls has ruled that Barry Peterson is no longer state chair of the Idaho Republican Party. His term expired earlier this year but the recent state convention adjourned without voting on new party officers. Peterson argued that this means he was impliedly re-elected, but the judge disagreed.
