On October 5, the Illinois legislature set a date for a vote on overriding Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of HB 723. That vote will come on October 14. HB 723 is the bill that requires candidates nominated by meetings of qualified parties to submit petitions, in order to be on the November ballot. In the past, qualified parties in Illinois have always been permitted to nominate candidates by party meeting, after the primary, if that party had not nominated anyone in its own primary for that particular office. HB 723 retains that procedure, but says the nominee needs a petition.

On October 5, U.S. District Court David Carter heard arguments in Santa Ana, California, in one of the presidential qualifications cases. This California case is the one in which Alan Keyes is a plaintiff. Here is a newspaper report from the Orange County Register about the hearing, in which government attorneys argued the case should be dismissed before any discovery takes place.

On August 14, the United Citizens Party had filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina Elections Commission, challenging the Elections Commission’s 2008 rule that forces candidates to file multiple declarations of candidacy, if they are seeking the nomination of more than one political party. The party says the state didn’t pre-clear that change with the U.S. Justice Department. Before 2008, a candidate only needed to file a single declaration of candidacy, which meant more flexibility for that candidate to later decide which party nominations he or she would seek.

On October 2, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that a 3-judge case will be convened in this case, and will be argued before those three judges on November 18. Federal lawsuits involving the Voting Rights Act usually require 3-judge courts. The case is Gray v South Carolina Election Commission, 3:09cv-2126.