Iowa Challenge to Gary Johnson Ballot Position Will be Decided on August 29, Wednesday

According to this story, the three Iowa state officials hearing the challenge to the Libertarian Party’s ballot access in Iowa will decide on Wednesday, August 29. The newspaper story says it will be decided on Tuesday, but witnesses who were at the hearing know that it will be decided on Wednesday, when the same panel of three state officials re-convenes the hearing.

The challengers were represented by an attorney from Washington, D.C. He was accompanied by two attorneys from one of the biggest law firms in Des Moines.

Arizona Superior Court Hears Cases on Whether Top-Two Open Primary has Enough Valid Signatures on Thursday, August 30

On August 30, a Superior Court Judge in Phoenix will hear two cases on whether the top-two open primary has enough valid signatures to be on the ballot. One case was filed against election officials by proponents of the initiative. The other case was filed against election officials by opponents. The first case says the petition really has more valid signatures than election officials found. The second case says that election officials should not have counted petitions circulated by ex-felons. See this story.

The case filed by proponents is Open Government Committee v Bennett, cv2012-013089. The case filed by opponents is Save Our Vote v Bennett, cv2012-013094. They are both before Judge John Raya.

U.S. District Court in Ohio Says Provisional Ballots that Are Invalid Under State Law, Even though Voter was Blameless, Must be Counted

On August 27, a U.S. District Court in Ohio ruled that certain types of provisional votes must be counted, even though they are invalid under state law. They are the kinds of provision ballots that were cast in the wrong precinct, but the right building, because of errors made by election officials. Rick Hasen explains the importance of the case and links to the decision here.

Virginia State Senator Proposes Easier Ballot Access

Virginia State Senator Dick Black (R-Leesburg) recently indicated he is inclined to introduce a bill in 2013 to cut the number of signatures for presidential ballot access from 10,000 to 5,000 signatures. Presumably his bill would apply both to presidential primary petitions and general election petitions. Thanks to Rick Sincere for this news.