On January 15, a status conference was held in Noble v State, Mercer County Superior Court, c-86-13. This is the lawsuit filed by the Socialist Party to win the ability for voters to register as members of the Socialist Party. At the status conference, the state said it is still deciding whether to give the party what it desires.

In 2001, the New Jersey State Appeals Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to force all voters to register only as Democratic, Republican, or independent. Since then, it has been New Jersey’s policy to also let voters register into unqualified parties that bring lawsuits to gain registration rights. The 2001 case had been won by the Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform Parties. Some years later the Conservative Party filed a similar lawsuit, and it also gained registration rights.

If the state turns down the Socialist Party’s request, then the lawsuit will proceed. There will be another status conference on February 18. Meanwhile, the Natural Law Party, and the Conservative Party, are no longer organized in New Jersey and no longer run candidates. New Jersey elections officials would be wise if they promulgated regulations on how an unqualified party can obtain voter registration rights, and when they should be terminated.

The Seventh Circuit will hear Stone v Board of Election Commissioners, 13-2733, on February 19, Wednesday, at 10 a.m. in Chicago. This is the case that challenges the law requiring candidates for non-partisan citywide office in Chicago to submit 12,500 valid signatures. The plaintiff argues that a candidate running in a major party primary only needs 5,000 signatures to run for statewide office. He also argues that no other large city requires nearly that many signatures to get on the ballot for any city office.

The most obscure part of the federal Voting Rights Act is Section 3, which says that if a jurisdiction persistently demonstrates a disregard of voting rights for ethnic and racial minorities, it is subject to pre-clearance from the U.S. Justice Department. This section applies to the entire nation, but has almost never been used, because between 1965 and 2013, such jurisdictions were virtually always also required to obtain pre-clearance under Section 5.

On January 13, 2014, a U.S. District Court in Alabama used Section 3 to require the city of Evergreen to obtain approval from the Justice Department, if it makes changes to the voting rolls and also if it makes redistricting changes in its city council elections. The city had been placed under Section 5 in 2012. But in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court made enforcement of Section 5 impossible, because the Court invalidated Section 4, which is linked to Section 5 and contains the formula to determine which parts of the nation are under Section 5.

The decision is Allen v City of Evergreen, southern district, 13-0107. Here is a newspaper story about the case.