On October 27, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed an order of a lower state court, and said that the list of declared write-in candidates may be shown to voters at the polls who ask to see the list. See this story. UPDATE: see this longer story, which says that the ballots of voters who asked to see the list should be kept separate, in case a further appeal reverses the order. FURTHER UPDATE: here is the 3-page order of the Alaska Supreme Court, thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog.
On October 26, the Republican nominee for Connecticut Attorney General, Martha Dean, brought a lawsuit in state court to disqualify her Democratic opponent, George Jepsen. See this story.
Earlier this year, the Connecticut Supreme Court had ruled that Susan Bysiewicz, the Democratic Secretary of State who wanted to run for Attorney General this year, does not meet the statutory qualifications to be Attorney General. Although the Supreme Court issued its conclusion in May, it didn’t explain itself until last week. When the decision came down, it said that no one is qualified to be Attorney General unless the person has litigated cases in court for ten years. Dean charges that Jepsen does not qualify because he allegedly does not have ten years of experience trying cases. He is an attorney who has been “of counsel” for many lawsuits. That means he advises the attorneys who are actually doing the litigating.
The ballots have already been printed, so Dean is asking that the election for Attorney General be postponed. There is a third nominee on the ballot for Attorney General, Stephen Fournier. He is the Green Party nominee.
On October 27, a lower Arkansas state court ruled that one Republican nominee for the legislature does not meet the qualifications to hold office. See this story. He had been convicted of a misdemeanor in 1984. His name cannot be removed from the ballot, but signs will be posted at polling places telling voters that votes for him will not be counted.
On October 25, and again on October 26, lower state Kentucky courts ruled that two candidates for the legislature are not qualified because they did not have enough valid signatures. See this story. One candidate is an independent, who needed 100 signatures. The other is the Democratic nominee in his district. He needed two signatures to get on the primary ballot but only had one valid.
Because the ballots are already printed, notices will be posted in polling places that votes for these two candidates will not be counted.
On October 27, Rhode Island is holding a gubernatorial debate, in which all 7 ballot-listed candidates are participating. See this story. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link. The candidates are the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, and Moderate Parties, and all four independent candidates.
