A New York state court will hear arguments on October 9, in a case to determine whether the New York Democratic Party’s nominees for Justice of the Supreme Court, 5th district, should remain on the November 3, 2009 ballot. See this story. In New York, Justices of the Supreme Court are elected on a partisan basis, from judicial districts. Nominees are chosen by convention. The 5th district is the area in and around Syracuse. The objector who filed the lawsuit to remove the nominees says the convention procedures did not follow state election laws.

On October 8, the U.S. House passed S.1390, the Defense Authorization bill. It includes the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which requires states in federal elections to mail absentee ballots to overseas voters by 45 days before the election. The bill now goes back to the Senate.

All the briefs have now been filed in Daien v Ysursa, in U.S. District Court in Idaho. The case challenges Idaho’s ban on out-of-state petition circulators. It also challenges Idaho’s law that requires an independent presidential candidate to collect six times as many signatures as are needed for a statewide independent candidate for office other than president. Here is Daien’s brief; here is the State’s brief. Both were filed on October 2.

The plaintiff, Donald Daien, lives in Arizona and he wants to be able to petition for an independent or minor party presidential candidate in 2012 who shares his political views. In the past, Daien has been a volunteer petitioner in many states for Ralph Nader.