On January 2, Dennis Kucinich sued the Texas Democratic Party for refusing to list him on the presidential primary ballot. The case is Dennis Kucinich v Texas Democratic Party, A08-ca-7LY. The case was assigned to Judge Lee Yeakel, a Bush Jr. appointee. UPDATE: this case will be argued on January 11.

Ballot access to the Texas Democratic Party requires a fee of $2,500 and signing an oath that the candidate will “fully support the Democratic nominee for President, whoever that will be.” Kucinich had originally signed the oath, but he had scratched out the last part. He said he would support the eventual nominee if that nominee were opposed to U.S. policy on Iraq. The party waited 5 days and then rejected the oath as amended by Kucinich. This case will probably have an outcome in the next week or ten days.

New Hampshire HB 1326 has just been introduced. It would provide that anyone may obtain the statewide list of registered voters at a reasonable cost, except for individuals who want the list for commercial purposes. This bill is a result of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party having won its lawsuit late last year, striking down the existing law, which says that only qualified parties may obtain the list. Thanks to Howard Wilson for this news.

Fred Thompson filed his $2,500 fee to be on the Texas Republican presidential primary last week, but his paperwork was incomplete. He is completing the filing on the deadline day, January 2.