On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Libertarian Party of North Dakota v Jaeger, 11-1050. This is a ballot access case, which challenged the North Dakota law on how a minor party candidate for the state legislature gets on the ballot. No party can list a nominee on the November ballot for legislature unless between 10% and 15% of all the voters in the primary choose a minor party primary ballot. Because the overwhelming majority of primary voters are not interested in choosing a minor party’s primary ballot, and instead choose one of the major party primary ballots, the effect is that minor parties can never place nominees on the ballot for state legislature.

North Dakota has not had any minor party nominees on the November ballot for state legislature since 1976. The Libertarian Party’s cert petition had also pointed out that the 8th circuit, which upheld the law, make an important factual error in its decision. The 8th circuit said that the restriction is necessary to keep frivolous candidates off the ballot, because the primary vote test is the only ballot access barrier. The 8th circuit wrote that once a party qualifies (with a petition of 7,000 names) it is then forever afterwards on the ballot automatically. The truth is that minor parties go off the ballot if they don’t poll at least 5% for President, Governor, or Secretary of State. When this factual error had been pointed out to the 8th circuit, the panel refused to rehear the case and refused even to issue an amended opinion.

The Judge who wrote the 8th circuit opinion is Kermit Bye, a Clinton appointee. The two other judges who signed that opinion are Roger Wollman, a Reagan appointee, and Bobby Shepherd, a Bush Jr. appointee.

Politico has this story about Roseanne Barr, with an emphasis on her somewhat slow start on raising campaign contributions. She is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination.

In 2011, the Illinois House passed HB 2009, which says that no one who voted in a primary, or who filed a declaration of candidacy to run in a primary (but who then chose not to run in that primary), can then be an independent candidate in November. The law applies to all partisan office. The bill then languished in a Senate committee for almost a full year.

Illinois held its primary this year, for president and all other office, in March 20, 2012.

Then, on March 27, HB 2009, which had long been forgotten, was shifted to another Committee in the Senate. On March 29 it passed the Senate 53-3. Governor Pat Quinn signed it the next day. It has an urgency clause so took effect on March 30. So now anyone who voted in the Democratic or Republican primary on March 20 this year cannot run for any partisan office in November as an independent candidate.

This maneuver almost certainly violates due process. It is fundamentally unfair to pass a law that adversely affects primary voters after the primary is over and to make it effective so that it affects this year’s general election.

Illinois does not have registration by party. If this law had been in effect in 1980, it would apparently have prevented John B. Anderson from getting on the ballot as an independent candidate, since he voted in the March 1980 Republican presidential primary. He didn’t declare as an independent until April 24, 1980.