On September 16, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that John McCain is a natural-born citizen, eligible to be president. He also ruled that, even if he weren’t, the plaintiffs in Robinson v Bowen (08-cv-3836) did not have standing to challenge McCain’s ballot status. He said another presidential candidate running against McCain would have standing, but that even then, the case would only be ripe after the November election. The judge was aware that the California Supreme Court had ruled in 1968 that presidential candidates who are not eligible should not be on the ballot, but he didn’t discuss that in his 5-page opinion.

The plaintiffs in this case are supporters of Alan Keyes, so it is odd that Keyes did not join the case as a co-plaintiff. The plaintiff is a presidential elector candidate for Keyes, and he is also the (somewhat disputed) state chair of the American Independent Party of California.

The New York Independence Party’s candidate for 13th U.S. House district, Carmine Morano, is campaigning to win. Morano is a health insurance expert. See this City Hall News story about his campaign. The 13th district comprises Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. The incumbent Republican, Vito Fossella, is not running for re-election. The district is fairly even balanced between Democrats and Republicans, so the winner in this district will probably be someone who polled substantially less than a majority.

U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock of Maine still has not ruled on the ballot access lawsuit filed September 9 by Laurie Dobson. She is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate. The hearing was Friday, September 12, and the Judge indicated he would rule very quickly, but as of 8:15 a.m. eastern time, Tuesday, September 16, he has not done so. The issue is whether a candidate who turns in her petitions to the town clerks by the deadline should still be kept off the ballot just because the town clerks didn’t finish checking the signatures in time.