On April 9, the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. campaign said it had submitted almost twice as many signatures in Nebraska as are legally required.
See this story.
22
It’s the same story as in Ohio, which we recently blogged. Probably a lawsuit will be forthcoming in Alabama on this matter, as is likely in Ohio.
Here is a link to the story, and thanks to Thomas Jones for providing it to us. Hopefully, some good will come from these lawsuits for minor party and independent candidates’ ballot access in the future.
In 2020, the Alabama legislature passed HB 272, to move the deadline for 2020 only to August 27, because otherwise the Republican Party would have had a problem with the deadline. It is believed that the Alabama legislature made a similar adjustment in 2011 or 2012, and also 2007 or 2008, to solve the same problem in those two election years. The problem also existed in 2004 and the 2003 session of the Alabama legislature passed HB 127 which made the deadline later but only for 2004.
Of course, Joe Biden is highly unlikely to win Alabama, and Lyndon Johnson won the 1964 presidential election without being on the ballot in Alabama.
On April 9, the Catoosa County (Georgia) Republican Party filed a lawsuit in state court to remove four candidates from the May 21 Republican primary ballot. They are running for County Commission and three of them are Republican incumbents. The Catoosa County Republican Party believes it has a freedom of association right to exclude candidates from its primary ballot if the party organization believes they are not loyal to the party’s principles.
It is true that federal courts in Georgia have permitted the Republican Party in the past to control which presidential primary candidates appear on the party’s ballot, but the section of the law on presidential primaries differs in that regard from the section of the election law governing other office.
The Catoosa County Republican Party may have developed its philosophy by watching Alabama. In Alabama the law has long given parties complete control over who may appear on party primary ballots, and every year the Alabama Republican Party rejects candidates from its primary for ideological reasons, or because a candidate gave money or an endorsement in the past to a nominee of another party or an independent candidate. Catoosa County does not border Alabama but it is physically close to the Alabama border.
On April 9, an independent candidate for U.S. House in Ohio, filed a state court lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the petition requirement of 1% of the last vote cast, due in March. Tjaden v Geauga County Board of Elections, Court of Common Pleas, Geauga County. Here is the Complaint
On April 9, the California State Appeals Court, third district, issued an opinion in Weber v Superior Court, B324576. This is the case over whether Vince Fong could run for both U.S. House and Assembly in the March 5, 2024 election. The Appeals Court agreed with the Superior Court, and said there is no law in California stopping simultaneous filings. Here is the Opinion. Thanks to Eric Wong for the news.