On June 24, a U.S. District Court in Miami, Florida, held a hearing in South Florida Tea Party, Inc. v Tea Party.  The case was filed on January 19, 2010, by various Tea Party groups that are not themselves qualified political parties.  They are seeking a court ruling that the ballot-qualified Tea Party should be either removed from the ballot, or forced to choose another name.  See this story in the Sunshine State News.

On June 24, a Texas lower state court judge removed the Green Party from the ballot, because the judge believes that the party had no right to receive a large indirect donation that paid for the petition drive.  See this brief story.  The decision will be appealed.  The case is Texas Democratic Party v Texas Green Party, d-1-gn-10-001924.

Texas law has always been very insistent that a signature on a petition is equivalent to a primary vote.  That is why Texas is the only state that won’t let primary voters sign a petition to place a new party on the ballot.  It would be unthinkable to cancel a primary election outcome just because the winner of the primary received campaign contributions that were in some way unlawful.  If this decision stands, it shows that Texas does not really believe that a signature on a petition is equivalent to a primary vote.