Attorneys for the Georgia Secretary of State have received permisison to submit their brief in Green Party of Georgia v Secretary of State on June 10, instead of May 31. This is the case in which the Green Party and the Constitution Party challenge Georgia’s ballot access procedures for presidential candidates. This case was filed in 2012 but it is just now getting started, because initially the U.S. District Court had rejected the case. The Eleventh Circuit reinstated it earlier this year.

On May 21, the Indiana Libertarian Party, the Libertarian National Congressional Committee, and an individual donor who wishes to support the Libertarian Party congressional campaign filed a lawsuit to overturn part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance restrictions on political parties. The case is Rufer v Federal Election Commission, 1:14cv-837. The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper in the District of Columbia. He has only been a judge for two months.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the contribution limits for individual donors who wish to support the party’s federal campaign efforts, but only in instances at which the donation would be spent independently of the candidate being supported. The lawsuit is being done for the plaintiffs by the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation. The lawsuit is very similar to a lawsuit filed a few days later by the Republican Party. PAC’s can now received unlimited donations to support federal candidates, if the spending is independent of the candidate. The two lawsuits argue that there is no reason to treat political parties less favorably than PAC’s.

The May 27 San Francisco Chronicle will have this story about AB 2351, the bill to ease the definition of “political party” in California. Near the end of the story, the article says if the bill passes, a party will need 5,900 registered members. That is an error; it should say 59,000.