The Pennsylvania Libertarian Party has nominated Ebert Beeman to run for U.S. House, 3rd district. This district, in northwest Pennsylvania, is one of the most closely balanced U.S. House districts in the nation. In 2008 the vote had been Kathy Dahlkemper, Democrat, 146,846 votes; Phil English, Republican incumbent, 139,707.

Beeman was elected to the Erie County Council, 6th district, in a partisan election in November 2009, as a Republican. However, he had been a registered Libertarian as recently as May 2009. In the 2009 general election, the Republican Party had opposed Beeman even though he was the Republican nominee. Beeman won anyway, with only 32.14% of the vote. The November 2009 vote was Republican (Beeman) 2,132 votes; Democratic 1,924; write-ins 1,624; independent Steven Porter 773 votes; and Green Party 180 votes. Beeman is an interesting person; see this news story from October 2009 describing him.

All the briefs have now been filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, in Riddle v Secretary of State. This is the case over the constitutionality of a law that says no one may run as an independent, if that individual was registered for even one day as a member of a qualified party during the year before filing.

Although a bill to ease the restriction has passed the House and the policy committee in the Senate, the legislature apparently will not advance that bill further, and instead will wait for the court decision. The decision could come at any time and is very likely to be out before the end of this month.

On the afternoon of Monday, April 5, a 3-judge U.S. District Court blocked Columbia, South Carolina, from electing a city council member to the vacant 2nd district seat. The election had been scheduled for April 6. The city is conducting a regularly-scheduled election for other city offices anyway on April 6, and the regularly-scheduled part of the election will continue. However, the votes to fill the vacancy won’t count. See this story. The decision is Butler v City of Columbia, 3:10cv-794. It is signed by Judges Clyde H. Hamilton, a Bush Sr. appointee on the 4th circuit, Joseph F. Anderson, a Reagan appointee, and Cameron McGowan Currie, a Clinton appointee.

The second district did not become vacant until March 9. The city decided to fill the seat at its regular April election, even though the deadline for filing had passed, and absentee voting had already commenced. The 3-judge panel stopped the election because the rules for this special election had been changed and the U.S. Justice Department had not approved those changes. South Carolina is one of the states that is subject to section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news.