On Tuesday, September 17, the Second Circuit heard arguments in Team Kennedy v Berger, 24-2385. In New York, Kennedy is fighting to be on the ballot. The state courts had removed him, and a U.S. District Court had agreed with the state courts.

The three judges are Gerald E. Lynch (a Clinton appointee), and Beth Robinson and Sarah A. L. Merriam (Biden appointees). The panel had only allotted five minutes per side, but the argument was longer. Kennedy’s attorney correctly told the panel that if Kennedy does not appear on the New York ballot, then New Yorkers will be the only voters in the nation with only two presidential candidates’ names on the ballot. Kennedy’s attorney also made the argument that the New York definition of domicile, as applied to presidential candidates, is so narrow, the free speech provision of the First Amendment ought to protect Kennedy’s right to state his belief that he is domiciled in New York. The lower courts had rejected his ballot position because he had claimed domicile in New York.

This AP story says a group that supports Democrats has persuaded conservative independents to run for U.S. House this year in districts that are closely balanced between the two major parties.

The Montana Democratic Party is asking the State Supreme Court to remove the Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate. Montana Democratic Party v Montana First Judicial District Court, OP-24-0424. Briefs from each side are submitted. Here is the brief of the candidate, Robert Barb.

If the Montana Supreme Court removes the candidate, that will be the third U.S. Senate election in a row in which that court has removed the Green Party nominee. The other instances were 2018 and 2020. There was no U.S. Senate election in Montana in 2022. After the State Supreme Court removed the Green Party entirely from the ballot in 2020, the Ninth Circuit struck down the Montana law that had caused that removal, which put the Green Party back on the ballot.