Geoff Pallay has this report on the progress of congressional and legislative redistricting in 16 states.
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On April 21, Americans Elect submitted the paperwork to qualify as a political party in Florida. This is an action Americans Elect would have been doing in Florida eventually, in any case. However, the filing was done earlier than it would have been otherwise. If HB 1355 is signed into law and Americans Elect (or possibly other parties as well) brings a lawsuit against the new law, it may be legally advantageous that Americans Elect had already been qualified, when the new, drastic ballot access restriction took effect.
On April 21, the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments in Snyder v King, 94S00-1101. The Court must decide whether a state law is consistent with the Indiana Constitution. The Indiana Constitution authorizes the legislature to cancel voter registration for those incarcerated for “infamous crime”. The legislature feels this gives it the authority to create a law canceling voter registration for anyone incarcerated, even if only for a misdemeanor. The plaintiff had been locked up for battery, a misdemeanor. The plaintiff had then sued in federal court, and the federal court had then asked the Indiana Supreme Court to interpret whether “infamous crime” can include a misdemeanor. Thanks to Election Law@Moritz for this news.
Recall petitions have now been filed against five Republican State Senators, and three Democratic State Senators, in Wisconsin. See this story, which also indicates that some of the petitions are being challenged. Elections officials are asking for emergency appropriations to cover the cost of checking the petitions.
On April 21, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon, a Clinton appointee, held oral arguments in Citizens in Charge v Gale, 4:09-cv-3255. This lawsuit challenges the Nebraska law that bars out-of-state petitioners. See this newspaper story, which describes the testimony of Paul Jacob. The lawsuit also challenges a law saying petition sheets must contain a sentence in red ink, saying that the circulator is being paid (if the circulator is indeed being paid). The lawsuit also challenged the county distribution requirement for independent candidates, but this year the legislature repealed the county distribution requirement, so that part of the lawsuit is moot.
Judge Bataillon also has jurisdiction over another lawsuit, Bernbeck v Gale, 4:10-cv-3001, which challenges a Nebraska law that makes it illegal to pay circulators on a per-signature basis. The argument in that lawsuit was held on December 21, 2010, and no opinion has been handed down yet.