The Libertarian Party recently filed this response brief in Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, in the First Circuit.  The issues are whether states must let unqualified parties use a stand-in presidential candidate on petitions, and whether an unqualified party has any control over use of its name on the ballot.  The case is Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, 10-1360.

The Libertarian Party’s first brief in the First Circuit in this case is here.  A link to the state’s brief is inside this blog post.  The next step in the case is for the First Circuit to set a hearing date.

Many judges, both federal and state, have been wrestling with the Connecticut public funding law this month.  Besides the constitutional case in federal court that upheld some parts of the law and invalidated other parts, there have been cases over how the law works for joint tickets of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and also whether candidates should receive extra public funding even though the provisions for extra public funding were recently invalidated by the 2nd circuit.

Now another dispute is in court.  See this story, which explains that one of the Democratic candidates for Comptroller charges that his primary opponent has been improperly awarded public funding.

Back on June 4, the Socialist Party of New Jersey formally asked the state to let voters register as members of the Socialist Party.  Currently, New Jersey voters may register into the Democratic and Republican Parties.  They can also register into any of the six minor parties that sued the state in the past over voter registration (although not all of those parties still exist in New Jersey or nationally).  Those six minor parties are Conservative, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform.

New Jersey state officials have known since 2001 that it is unconstitutional to not give voters a free choice of which party to register in, but in all those nine years, neither the legislature, not the state elections office, has passed any bill or any regulation to set forth objective measures of how an unqualified party may obtain the ability to have voters register as members.

New Jersey’s definition of “political party” is so strict, only the Democratic and Republican Parties have been able to comply with it in the last 90 years.  To be qualified, a party must poll 10% of all the votes cast for all candidates for member of the lower house of the legislature, for its own candidates for the lower house of the legislature.

Although no one in the elections office has responded to the June 4 letter, the office says a response will be made in the new few days.