On April 4, Georgia asked the Eleventh Circuit to stay its opinion in Green Party of Georgia v Kemp. The Eleventh Circuit had said earlier this year that a trial should be held in U.S. District Court over whether the state’s presidential ballot access law is unconstitutionally difficult. Georgia state government attorneys are so eager to avoid such a trial, they say they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to cancel the order for a trial.

The state’s request for a stay says that the plaintiffs, including the Green Party of Georgia and the Constitution Party of Georgia, filed nothing to suggest that the parties could possibly win the lawsuit. The state’s claim is not true. The plaintiffs already filed evidence that no presidential petition has succeeded in Georgia (neither minor party nor independent) since 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court has said several times that when a ballot access law is so difficult it is seldom used, then it is probably unconstitutional.

The April 7 Tulsa World has this editorial, suggesting that the legislature should pass HB 2134, the bill to cut the number of signatures for a newly-qualifying party from 5% of the last vote, to 2.5%. Thanks to E. Zachary Knight for the link.

This Hendrix College Poll for the Arkansas gubernatorial race included all four parties that are on the Arkansas ballot. The results show that either the Libertarian Party or the Green Party might poll the needed 3% to retain ballot status, depending on which candidates the major parties nominate. The major parties choose their nominees in the May 20 primary.