On August 11, two ballot-qualified parties in Oregon filed a lawsuit in state court, alleging that the actual text of the Oregon election law does permit two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate. The plaintiffs include the Working Families Party and the Independent Party. The WFP wants to cross-endorse Peter Buckley, a Democratic nominee for the state house. The Independent Party wants to cross-endorse Joel Haugen, a Republican nominee for U.S. House, First District.
UPDATE: It appears that the Maine town and county clerks are using their discretionary powers and are accepting the slightly late filing by the LP. The actual state deadline is August 15, so the petitions will still meet that more important deadline.
The Barr campaign petitions now have 5,520 signatures, which should be enough to make the 4,000 valid requirement.
On August 13, Bob Barr filed a federal lawsuit against the West Virginia petition deadline for independent and unqualified party candidates for president. The suit depends on Anderson v Celebrezze. Also it depends on the fact that West Virginia requires a higher percentage of the last presidential vote cast, on a petition, of any state (for president) except that Oklahoma is worse and North Carolina is equally bad. The case is Barr v Ireland, 2:08cv-0990.
Lawsuits against early August petition deadlines won in Rhode Island in 1976 (McCarthy v Noel) and against Alaska in 1992 (Libertarian Party v Coghill). There haven’t been many other such lawsuits.
San Francisco election officials today certified Cindy Sheehan for the November ballot against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She had to get 10,198 signatures. Officials said she turned in 214 more than she needed.
Sheehan is the first independent House candidate to qualify for the California ballot since 1996. California’s requirement for independent candidates for U.S. House is the 4th most difficult in the nation (only Georgia, Illinois, and North Carolina have more severe requirements). She has the endorsement of the local Peace and Freedom Party and Green Party.
On August 8, the 9th circuit ruled 3-0 that the Veterans Administration is not violating the U.S. Constitution when it refuses to let political party representatives register voters inside VA hospitals and care facilities. Preminger v Peake, 08-15714. The decision depends on the fact that VA facilities are nonpublic fora. The particular VA hospital in question, in Palo Alto, California, permits non-partisan groups such as the League of Women Voters to enter in order to register voters. One of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit might have been able to continue registering voters (because he had been admitted) but he was told to leave because he was wearing a “Kerry for President” button (this case originated in 2004).
