On December 18, No Labels filed this reply brief in No Labels Party v Fontes, 2:23cv-2172. This is the case in which No Labels is suing the Secretary of State, hoping to block anyone from running in the No Labels primary for congress or partisan state office. Arizona law says all qualified parties must nominate by primary.
There will be a hearing in this case on January 5, 2024.
The Federal Election Commission has released an updated list of federal primary dates and filing deadlines for candidates. See it here.
The FEC’s chart for independent candidates for president is incorrect for both Utah and Idaho. Thanks to Tony Roza for the link.
Eight candidates will appear on the Texas Democratic presidential primary ballot on March 5, 2024. Also, eight will appear on the Republican presidential primary ballot. See the list here. One must enter several choices to use the link.
The Oklahoma Democratic Party has again told the State Elections Board that the party will let independents vote in its primaries for the coming year. This is standard for the Oklahoma Democratic Party.
For 2024, the only other two qualified parties, Republican and Libertarian, are not letting independents vote in their primaries. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.
On December 11, Better Ballot Arizona said it would not continue to attempt to put a top-five primary system on the November 2024 ballot.
However, a separate petition drive backed by Make Elections Fair Arizona will continue. That initiative would require that all candidates run on the same primary ballot and would authorize the legislature to pass some system as to how to determine which candidates get on the general election ballot.
Backers of that petition hope that if it gets on the ballot and passes, the legislature would be motivated to authorize ranked choice voting. They need 383,923 valid signatures by July 3. Supporters of this initiative believe that when a top-five or top-four measure qualifies, then opponents attack it by attacking ranked choice voting, so they hope to surmount this public relations problem by not specifically authorizing ranked choice voting. The group has raised $5,000,000.
