The Nevada government has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for more time to respond to the Republican Party’s brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Republican Party of Nevada v Miller, 13-442. The issue is whether the Ninth Circuit erred when it said that neither the Republican Party, nor its candidates for presidential elector in 2012, nor the plaintiff-voters, have standing to challenge Nevada’s law that puts “none of these candidates” on the ballot for statewide office.

The Court had originally set the state’s deadline as November 8, but now the Court has granted the state’s request for more time, and the state response is due December 9.

On November 5, Richard Smolka died at the age of 81 at his home in Mesa, Arizona. He founded Election Administration Reports in 1971 and was editor for over 40 years. It continues to be published, every two weeks, and is a print publication, not on the internet.

He had been an elections observer and consultant for voting procedures in 25 countries, especially countries that were just starting to hold free elections. He was very helpful to me, and his newsletter’s long existence as a print publication was an inspiration for me to found Ballot Access News. He and I sat together in the press section of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, when the Court held oral arguments in California Democratic Party v Jones, a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court reversed all the lower court judges who had heard the case earlier, and ruled in favor of associational rights for political parties. Immediately after the hearing, Smolka correctly predicted that the Court would rule in favor of the political parties who had filed the case. He also predicted in mid-2000 that the upcoming presidential election would result in one presidential candidate winning an electoral college majority while placing second in the popular vote. He said that in a speech to a convention of election officials, and history proved that prediction right as well, even though such a thing hadn’t happened since 1888.

The number of signatures needed for statewide minor party and independent candidates in Pennsylvania in 2014 depends on the number of votes cast in the November 5, 2013 election, for Judge of the Superior Court. The formula is 2% of the winning candidate’s vote, for the statewide partisan candidate with the largest vote total.

There was only one partisan statewide judicial election on November 5, 2013, for Superior Court Judge. The Republican nominee, Vic Stabile, won with only 51%. When all the votes are counted, it appears he will only have polled about 850,000 votes, so the 2014 statewide petition will be only 17,000. That is the lowest number required in Pennsylvania since 1970. Low turnout out in the November 5, 2013 election is a major part of the reason for the low 2014 requirement.

Pennsylvania quadrupled the petition requirement in 1971. Before 1971 it was one-half of 1% of the winner’s vote. Thanks to Ken Krawchuk for this news.