During late 2007 and early 2008, there were three cases challenging the date of the Florida presidential primary. The state insisted on holding the primary in January, even though the Democratic National Committee rules said no state could hold such a presidential primary except for New Hampshire.

One of the cases was filed by a Democratic voter against the state of Florida, and argued that the state was disenfranchising Democrats by holding the primary on a date that contradicted the wishes of the party. The case was held moot on October 5, 2009. It was Ausman v Browning, U.S. District Court, northern district, 4:07-cv-519. The case never got a substantive decision, because in the earlier stages of the case, the primary was held before the court could reach a decision.

On February 1, the 9th circuit extended the stay in McComish v Bennett. The U.S. District Court in that case had invalidated part of the Arizona public funding law for candidates for state office. The stay means that the law remains intact until the 9th circuit rules on the merits of the case. The 9th circuit is expediting the case and it will be heard in April and decided quickly. Here is the seven-page order. The vote was 2-1. The dissenting judge would have removed the stay. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

This article says the Maine Green Party’s gubernatorial candidate, Lynne Williams, will not seek public funding this year. Of course, Green Party candidates for the Maine legislature can be expected to seek and obtain public funding this year.

As the article points out, due to a good change in the election law last year, qualified parties in Maine no longer need to poll 5% of the vote for either Governor or President. Instead, they remain ballot-qualified if they have at least 10,000 registered members who cast a vote in November. The Green Party has over 34,000 registered members so it probably will retain its spot on the ballot, whether it polls 5% for Governor this year or not.