On August 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, denied the Libertarian Party’s request to rehear the case over whether election officials must count write-ins for declared presidential write-in candidates.

Federal law requires jurisdictions that vote for President to tell the National Archives the number of votes received by each candidate for presidential elector. This point was never brought up in the lawsuit. But it leaves open the possibility of a new lawsuit, raising that point. It is hoped that some of this year’s presidential candidates will file for declared write-in status in the District of Columbia this year. To file as a declared write-in candidate, the presidential candidate must find three D.C. voters who have lived in Washington, D.C., for at least three years, to serve as presidential elector candidates.

The Wisconsin deadline for independent presidential candidates, and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties, has passed. Four petitions were submitted for President: Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Jill Stein (Green), Gloria LaRiva (Party for Socialism and Liberation), and Jerry White (Socialist Equality Party).

The state elections office rejected the petitions of Jill Stein and Jerry White because the board says there is a residency requirement for presidential elector candidates, and a group must have a resident in each U.S. House district. However, as noted on yesterday’s post about Jerry White, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that presidential petitions may not be rejected on those grounds. The 2004 decision was won by Ralph Nader. The Stein and White campaigns will point this out to the state elections officials.

The Constitution Party and Americans Elect are ballot-qualified parties in Wisconsin, and thus no petition is needed for their presidential nominees. The Party for Socialism and Liberation petitioned for Gloria LaRiva instead of its actual presidential candidate, Peta Lindsey, because Wisconsin will not print the name of presidential candidates on the ballot if those presidential candidates don’t meet the qualifications listed in the U.S. Constitution. Lindsey is under the age of 35.

On August 8, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts, a Clinton appointee,, granted summary judgment to two groups that represent disabled individuals, in their claim that the New York City Board of Elections is liable for violating federal laws that protect access to the polls for disabled persons. The case is United Spinal Association v Board of Elections in the City of New York, southern district, 10-cv-5653.

The 31-page decision is filled with examples of specific polling places in recent past elections at which wheelchair access was virtually impossible. The Board defended itself by saying it has a policy of re-assigning disabled voters to other nearby polling places, but the Court found that the Board had put the burden on the disabled individual to find appropriate alternative polling places, and that it is the Board that should be responsible for finding such alternate polling places. See this story.