U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has introduced a bill that says the U.S. Supreme Court has sole authority to adjudicate challenges to the eligibility of presidential candidates relative to the Fourteenth Amendment, section 3.
That part of the bill is only one sentence. See it here. The bill also blocks federal funding for election administration for states that block presidential candidates from a ballot on section 3 grounds.
The bill does not yet have a number.
On January 11, the Maryland State Board of Elections announced that the No Labels Party has over 10,000 valid signatures, so it will be a qualified party as soon as some paperwork is submitted. See this story.
New parties in Maryland nominate by convention.
As previously described at this website, Texas permits initiatives on primary ballots, and this year a group that favors secession for Texas filed an initiative to appear on the March 5 Texas Republican primary ballot. But the party rejected the signatures, claiming that they were filed a day too late, and also that electronic signatures are invalid.
On January 10, the group asked the Texas Supreme Court to hear their lawsuit that their initiative should be on the ballot. But the same day, that court refused to hear the case. See this story.
It appears the proponents will now file in a trial state court, which must hear the case. State Supreme Courts, like the U.S. Supreme Court, don’t need to hear lawsuits filed directly in that State Supreme Court. Thanks to Jim Riley for the link. The name of the case is In re Texas Nationalist Movement.
On January 10, Michael Steinberg, a Democratic voter in Florida, filed this brief in Steinberg v Democratic Party of Florida, n.d., 4:23cv-518. Steinberg wants to vote for Congressman Dean Phillips in the Florida Democratic primary. The Democratic Party of Florida only listed President Joe Biden on its primary ballot, even though the party rules say the party will list all “recognized” candidates.
Because Biden was the only listed candidate, and because Florida doesn’t permit write-ins in primaries, the state then cancelled the Democratic presidential primary.
Steinberg’s brief argues that “recognized” is vague, but by any reasonable definition, Phillips is “recognized.” Steinberg also argues that he does have standing.
On January 8, U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed the lawsuit Castro v Aguilar, 2:23cv-1387. This is one of John Castro’s lawsuits to keep former President Donald Trump off various presidential primary ballots. The four-page opinion says Castro does not have standing. It mentions all the other decisions that Castro has lost so far.
Footnote two notes that Castro isn’t even competing against Trump in Nevada. As it explains, Trump is running in the Nevada Republican caucus, not the presidential primary. Castro is running in the primary, not the caucus.
