On September 23, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the names and addresses of people who sign petitions for ballot measures may be released to the public.  The 14-page decision is The Shepherdstown Observer v Maghan, 35446.  The particular petition at issue was a referendum petition on zoning.  Proponents of the petition drive did not allege that signers of their petition faced harassment.

In 1968 the West Virginia Supreme Court had ruled that signatures on the petition that placed George Wallace on the general election ballot were not public records.  The new decision does not override that precedent.  Instead it makes a distinction between the two types of petitions.  Thanks to Jeff Becker for this news.

On September 22, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Steve Rauschenberger should remain on the ballot as the Republican Party nominee for State Senate in the 22nd district.  His Democratic opponent had argued that he should be removed because in the spring of 2009, he had voted in a local Democratic Party primary.  There is no written opinion yet.  See this story.

Illinois, Indiana, Montana, and Ohio do not ask voters to choose a party on voter registration forms.  Yet, those four states have other election laws, which are invariably confusing, that try to determine if, in reality, any voter is “really” a member of any particular party.  These states sometimes consider a voter or a candidate to have been a member of one particular party if they choose one particular party’s primary ballot, or if they hold office in a political party, or they in any other way associate themselves with a particular political party.  These vague laws cause considerable confusion and litigation, especially when they are used to block individuals from running for office.

The Illinois ballot still isn’t settled.  The lawsuit over whether the Constitution Party slate of statewide candidates should be on the ballot is set for Friday, September 24.

The Tennessee law on how new and previously unqualified parties get on the ballot was declared unconstitutional on September 20, but only on September 23 did the mainstream news media carry the story.  See here for the AP story.  See here for a longer story in the Tennessean, which says the state hasn’t decided yet whether to appeal, and which also quotes the chair of the Democratic Party in support of the decision.  Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the links.