The Third Circuit will hear the New Jersey ballot format case on Friday, April 12, at 9:30 a.m.
According to this article, a Missouri activist, Jared Young, will attempt to qualify “The Better Party” for the ballot this year. It is a centrist organization.
Here is a new article on this matter by Matthew Petti at the Reason Foundation.
The Pennsylvania Forward Party is petitioning to place nominees on the November 2024 ballot for Attorney General and Treasurer. If they get on the ballot and meet the vote test, the Forward Party will then meet the definition of a “political party”. The benefits of that are: (1) the party will be a choice on the voter registration forms and the state will tally how many registered voters it has and who they are; (2) in special elections, the party will be on the ballot automatically for its nominees, with no petition needed.
The Forward Party would have been free to put a U.S. Senate nominee on its petition, but chose not to do that.
In Pennsylvania, even groups that meet the definition of “political party” are not automatically on the general election ballot in regularly-scheduled elections unless they have registration membership of 15% of the state total. This law is so severe, if the same law existed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the District of Columbia, the Republican Party would need to petition for all its nominees in the general election. If it were the law in Idaho and Utah, the Democratic Party would need petitions to place all its nominees on the November ballot.
On April 3, the New Jersey counties that support the old ballot format filed this reply brief. All three briefs are now filed, so a decision should be out soon.