Late on July 10, a Florida state court invalidated the 2011 U.S. House redistricting plan. See this story. The basis for the decision is the Florida Constitution, which tells the legislature to draw the lines in a way that does not help or harm any particular political party. The 41-page decision is Romo v Detzner, Leon County circuit court, 2012-ca-412. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link to the story, and the Campaign Legal Center for the link to the decision.
On July 10, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said Jim Jenkins has enough valid signatures to be on the November ballot as an independent for U.S. Senate. He is the first independent candidate for U.S. Senate to be on the Nebraska ballot since 2002. Here is his web page.
The U.S. Senate race will be a three-candidate race. The only minor party on the Nebraska ballot is the Libertarian Party. Although there are four Libertarians running for statewide office, no Libertarian is running for U.S. Senate.
This Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on the July 9 ruling of the Third Circuit on ballot access is the best article that the mainstream press has yet carried.
See this story in The Militant, which says that the federal prison in Florence, Colorado, is refusing to let an inmate receive his copy of that newspaper. The Militant has had its attorney protest this action.
Here is a description of the July 9 session of the North Carolina hearing, in the case filed by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, over the 2013 voting changes passed by the legislature. The trial continues on July 10, and then will end.
