On December 28, Elaine Brown withdrew from the race for the Green Party presidential nomination. She also said she is no longer a member of the Green Party.
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On the afternoon of December 28, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter paid their $2,500 to be on the Texas Republican presidential primary ballot. Hugh Cort of Alabama also did so. Everyone whom one would expect to file for this primary has now done so, except for Fred Thompson. But he is free to file on December 31 or January 2.
Hugh Cort is now on the ballot in 7 Republican presidential primaries, more than any other little-known candidate for that nomination. He is also on in Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
The long-planned ballot access lawsuit against Tennessee’s law for new parties to get on the ballot will be filed during the first week in January 2008. The plaintiffs will be the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties of Tennessee. The most likely date for the filing is January 3.
On December 27, the 11th circuit refused to disturb the injunction that had been granted by a U.S. District Court on December 18, concerning Florida voter registration practices. The case is Florida State Conference of the NAACP v Browning, no. 07-15932. The vote was 3-0.
The issue is a Florida law that won’t let voters register, unless the Florida drivers license number the voter provides (or the last four digits of his or her Social Security number), matches a government database. Because the 11th circuit refused to disturb the injunction, 16,000 voters who have been trying to register will now become registered, in time to vote in the January 29 presidential primary.
Two of the three judges on the 11th circuit are Republican appointees: Joel Dubina of Alabama (appointed by President Bush Senior), and Gerald Tjoflat of Florida (appointed by President Ford). Tjoflat is a very conservative judge in election law matters. The third judge was Clinton appointee Rosemary Barkett of Florida.
The 11th circuit also accelerated the part of the case that will determine if the Florida requirement is constitutional. The briefs are due January 14.
The Texas deadline for presidential candidates to file in presidential primaries is January 2. Candidates pay a fee of $2,500; there is no petition.
So far, these Democrats have filed: Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, and Richardson. Also Joe Biden has paid his fee but not yet submitted his declaration of candidacy.
So far, these Republicans have filed: Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Romney, and Tran Hoa, a physician who lives in Houston, Texas.