As has previously been reported, recently the state chair of the Minnesota Democratic Party sued the Secretary of State to force the removal of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, on the grounds that it couldn’t possibly have held all the caucuses that it needs to have held in order to meet the new, severe definition of a qualified party. Martin v Simon, A24-0216.
On February 14, the Legal Marijuana Now Party filed this brief, as an interested party.
On February 15, the Federal Election Commission informed the U.S. Supreme Court that the FEC doesn’t intend to respond to Jill Stein’s cert petition. Stein v FEC, 23-771. The issue is how to calculate primary season matching funds. The FEC believes that Stein was overpaid in 2016 and wants some of its money back. The FEC had changed the rules on the matching period, to the detriment of Stein. It said that contributions she received after she won the Green Party nomination, but before she lost the Peace & Freedom nomination, can’t be matched.
On February 13, a subcommittee of the Iowa State Government Committee passed HSB 697. It limits challenges to the ballot position of federal candidates. It says, “Objections to the eligibility of a candidate for a federal office shall not be sustained unless the objection is limited to the legal insufficiency of the nominating petition or certificate of nomination, or to the residency, age, or citizenship reqauirements as described in the Constitution of the United States.”
The bill is sponsored by Representative Jane Bloomingdale (R-Northwood) and was suggested by Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican. It would make it impossible for anyone to challenge the ballot position of a federal candidate on insurrection grounds.
So admitted True the Vote yesterday. Here is the story from the Associated Press.
On February 14, the Minnesota Secretary of State filed this brief in Martin v Simon, the case in the State Supreme Court filed by the Democratic Party to remove the Legal Marijuana Now Party from the 2024 ballot. The Secretary of State says he is neutral, but notes that he doesn’t have the authority to remove the party from this year’s ballots.
Also he says his attorneys have talked to attorneys for the Democratic Party, and everyone concerned agrees that it is too late to cancel the Legal Marijuana Now Party’s presidential primary, which will be in March.
