On May 29, the 4th circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court that residency requirements for circulators are unconstitutional. The lawsuit concerned out-of-state circulators. The case is Libertarian Party of Virginia v Judd, 12-1996. Here is a copy of the 16-page decision. Virginia had vigorously argued that the plaintiff petitioner Darryl Bonner lacked standing, but the judges found that he did have standing. The state said since he injured his knee, he couldn’t have petitioned anyway, but the judges said he could have petitioned while sitting down, and pointed out that Bonner was able to attend his own deposition, notwithstanding the knee problem.

This is the first time a minor party has won a constitutional election law case in the Fourth Circuit since 1989 and 1988, when the Socialist Workers Party won two cases. The 1989 decision struck down Maryland’s filing fee for declared write-in candidates and was called Dixon v Maryland State Administrative Board of Election Laws. The 1988 decision struck down West Virginia’s mandatory language for independent and minor party candidate petitions, which said the signer intends to vote for the candidates listed on the petition; that was called Socialist Workers Party v Hechler. The Fourth Circuit consists of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. UPDATE: here is a lengthy AP news story about the decision.

On May 28, Robert B. Reich, Labor Secretary for President Bill Clinton, posted a blog post on his own blog, “Why Democrats Can’t be Trusted to Control Wall Street.”  The last line is, “Democrats can’t be trusted to control Wall Street.  If there were ever an issue ripe for a third party, the Street would be it.”

A Marist Poll released May 28 shows that no Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York city now enjoys more than 24% of the Democratic electorate.  This makes it very likely that a run-off primary will be needed.  State law says New York city mayoral primaries need a run-off if no one gets at least 40%.  New York city election administration almost certainly will change this year, because the current rules for a mayoral run-off are unworkable.  There isn’t enough time to hold a run-off.  Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.