On September 24, Tennessee State Senator Rosalind Kurita, a Democrat, sued her own party, as well as the Secretary of State, in order to be placed on the November ballot. Kurita v The State Primary Board of the Tennessee Democratic Party, 3:08cv-948.

Kurita had won the August Democratic primary by 19 votes, but the Democratic Party had overturned the results of the primary because of evidence that Republicans had voted in the Democratic primary. Tennessee does not have registration by party, and it is legal for any person to choose any party’s primary ballot. This lawsuit may be judged to have been filed too late. But if that procedural problem is overcome, the lawsuit may set a very important precedent about the rights of political parties to control their own nominations process. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s electionlawblog for this news. The lawsuit was a massive undertaking because Kurita sued all 66 members of the State Primary Board of the Democratic Party, which is very costly, because each individual had to be served. See the complaint and the brief by going to this webpage (the webpage of the James Madison Center) and scrolling down the left side to the link that starts with “Kurita”.

On September 27, the Louisiana Libertarian Party filed this strong brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that Bob Barr be put back on the ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court docket number is 08A269. It is 17 pages, and is well worth reading. Note that this is a microsoft “doc” file, not the usual “pdf” file.

On September 26, a Superior Court in Seattle, Washington, upheld the position of the Secretary of State, that it is legal for Dino Rossi to have this label on the ballot next to his name: “Prefers GOP Party.” Rossi is perceived by everyone to be the Republican Party candidate for Governor of Washington. Washington state election law, for the first time this year, says that parties don’t nominate candidates. Candidates appear on the ballot with their “party preference”. Democrats had said there is no such political party as the “GOP Party”. Thanks to J. Bradley Jansen for this news. The case is Smith v Reed, King Co. Superior Court, 08-2-33009-5.