The Illinois ballot access lawsuit called Stevo v Keith is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. It is case 08-1187. If Illinois state government wishes to ask the Court not to take the case, the state’s response is due April 24. Sometimes defendants waive their right to respond. It will be interesting to see if Illinois responds. The issue is whether the state has any real interest in requiring about 10,000 signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House in some years, when it only requires 5,000 in certain other years.

On March 19, the Federal Elections Committee extended the disclosure exemption for the Socialist Workers Party and its candidates for four more years. The vote was 5-1. The party has had a similar exemption ever since it won a lawsuit on this issue in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982. See this article from the April 6 Militant for more details.

The bill to improve Maine procedures for write-in candidates, LD 547, has not advanced, and it is now too late for it to pass. The bill would have required that the names of declared write-in candidates be posted at polling places, and also would have deleted the requirement that the voter write in not only the name of the write-in candidate, but the candidate’s town or city.