On May 8, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III signed HB 2981, the ballot access improvement bill. West Virginia now has the best independent and minor party candidate petition deadline (for office other than president) that it has had since 1919. The new deadline is August 1. In 1919, the legislature had moved that deadline from October to May, and it had remained in May for 90 years.
As this World Net Daily article of May 10 shows, Orly Taitz is still actively pursuing legal action over President Barack Obama’s qualifications. Taitz is a southern California attorney. She has not been as well-publicized as Phil Berg, the Pennsylvania attorney who first launched this cause, but she has been working at this since before the November 2008 election and now seems more active than Berg.
On May 8, Alan Keyes was arrested while protesting on the campus of Notre Dame against an appearance by President Obama. Notre Dame does not let non-students protest on its campus. See this story. Alan Keyes received 47,694 votes in November 2008 as the presidential nominee of America’s Independent Party.
The U.S. Supreme Court will issue three election law opinions between May 18 and June 29. They are: (1) Caperton v Massey Coal Company, 08-22, on what to do when a state elects its state court judges and one side in a lawsuit has made huge campaign contributions to sitting judges; (2) Citizens United v FEC, 08-205, on whether people who make and advertise a movie which conveys a message about a federal candidate must follow federal campaign laws; (3) Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v Holder, 08-322, on whether section 5 of the federal Voting Rights (requiring certain states and their political subdivisions to get advance approval from the federal government before changing any election laws) is constitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to put out opinions on these seven dates: May 18, May 26, June 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29. All are Mondays except that May 26 is a Tuesday.
Here is a list of all known pending lawsuits in which a minor party or independent candidate is challenging the constitutionality of a state’s ballot access laws:
Alabama: a decision is expected at any time in Shugart v Chapman, pending in U.S. District Court. The issue is the number of signatures for independent candidates for U.S. House.
Connecticut: briefing is underway in Libertarian Party v Bysiewicz, over the inconsistent standards for checking ballot access petitions.
Georgia: a decision is expected any time in Coffield v Williams, pending in U.S. District Court. The issue is the number of signatures for independent candidates for U.S. House.
Hawaii: the 9th circuit has temporarily suspended Nader v Cronin to see if the legislature will alter any ballot access laws. The case will be resumed in September if the legislature has not acted. The issue is the number of signatures for an independent presidential candidate.
Idaho: Daien v Ysursa has been assigned to a federal magistrate. The issue is whether out-of-state circulators for independent candidates must be permitted.
Illinois: Stevo v Keith is on the U.S. Supreme Court’s next conference. The issue is the number of signatures for independent candidates for U.S. House.
Maine: briefing has just been completed in Libertarian Party of Maine v Dunlap, over the relationship between the deadline for submitting signatures to town clerks, and the deadline for submitting signatures to the Secretary of State’s office.
Massachusetts: briefing is underway in Barr v Galvin, over whether states must let unqualified parties use a stand-in presidential candidate.
Montana: briefing is underway in Kelly v Johnson, over the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates.
New Hampshire: briefing hasn’t begun yet in Libertarian Party of N.H. v Gardner, over presidential substitution.
North Carolina: in Libertarian Party of N.C. v State Bd. of Elections, in the State Appeals Court, a decision is likely this summer. The issue are ballot access laws for minor parties. In Greene v Bartlett, discovery is proceeding in U.S. District Court. The issue is the number of signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House.
Oklahoma: a notice of appeal is about to be filed in the 10th circuit in Barr v Zeriax, the case over the number of signatures for independent presidential candidates.
Pennsylvania: the minor parties who filed Constitution Party of Pa. v Cortes are awaiting an answer to their complaint, in U.S. District Court. The case is only three weeks old. The issues are the state’s policy of charging candidates for the costs of removing them from the ballot, and the policy of not tallying write-in votes, and not counting them in some counties, and finally the state’s threshold (15% registration membership) for a party to be on the November ballot automatically.
Rhode Island: a decision in injunctive relief is expected soon in Block v Mollis, on the issue of whether the petition to recognize a party should be allowed to circulate in an odd year.
South Carolina: briefing is going on in S.C. Green Party v Election Commission, over whether a minor party nominee should be removed from the November ballot if that nominee later tries and fails to get the nomination of another party. South Carolina permits fusion yet makes it dangerous to try to use it.
Tennessee: the plaintiff minor parties submitted answers to the state’s extensive interrogatory requests 8 months ago. The state has not responded. The attorney for the minor parties is working on a brief asking for summary judgment, which will probably be filed by May 31. This is unusual, but since the state doesn’t seem interested in the evidence in the case, it may lose the chance to submit any evidence. The issue are the procedures to qualify a new party, which have not been used since 1968.
Washington: the state is trying to have the Libertarian Party’s lawsuit against “top two” dismissed without a further trial. A decision is likely any day on whether the case may continue. The case is called Washington State Republican Party v State, but at this point it is largely a Libertarian Party case.
This list only includes cases in which the constitutionality of a state’s ballot access laws are being challenged. It does not include cases over how a state has interpreted its own laws. Nor does it include cases filed by major party candidates.
