On December 23, West Virginia released its write-in totals from last month’s election. None of the qualified write-in candidates for president in West Virginia were on the ballot in any state. Bob Barr was not on the ballot in West Virginia, but he didn’t have write-in status in that state because he filed his write-in declaration one day too late.

Although the Constitution Party was on the ballot for president, it was not on for Governor. However, its candidate for Governor, Butch Paugh, polled 234 write-ins. Thanks to Brandon Henderson for this news.

On December 17, Montana’s Attorney General asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Arizona’s appeal in Brewer v Nader, the case in which the 9th circuit struck down Arizona’s early June petition deadline for independent candidates, and also struck down Arizona’s ban on out-of-state circulators. Here is a copy of the brief. The brief was co-signed by Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

This amicus brief is 26 pages long, just as long as the brief Arizona itself filed. Like the Arizona brief, the amicus focuses most of its fire on the issue of out-of-state circulators. It is odd that Alabama, Delaware, Florida, and New Hampshire signed the amicus, because those four states don’t bar out-of-state petition circulators.

The brief cites the U.S. District Court decision in Oklahoma last year that upheld the ban on out-of-state circulators. Ironically, the 10th circuit reversed that decision the very day after the amicus was filed.

The Libertarian Party’s lawsuit against Louisiana for keeping Bob Barr off the ballot last month is still alive and active. Here is the party’s 43-page brief, filed on December 8 in the 5th circuit. One little-known fact about this case is that both the Democratic and Republican Parties also failed to file their presidential elector candidates by the statutory deadline, September 2. The Secretary of State created a new deadline (September 8) by fiat, but the case argues that under Article II, only state legislatures can create election laws.