New Jersey Lawsuit on Discriminatory Primary Ballot Format Starts to Advance

Posted on by December 14, 2023
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A lawsuit is currently pending in New Jersey, in federal court, over the state’s discriminatory ballot format in primaries. Candidates backed by the major party organizations enjoy a much more prominent spot on Democratic and Republican primary ballots. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 and has moved slowly. But on December 8, the court said discovery must be completed by July 28, 2024. “Discovery” refers to depositions and interrogatories, which are procedures that witnesses fulfill. Conforti v Hanlon, 3:20cv-8267.

John Anthony Castro Dismisses His Massachusetts and Montana Cases on Trump Ballot Access

Posted on by December 14, 2023
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On December 7, John Anthony Castro dismissed his anti-Trump Massachusetts ballot access case. Castro v Galvin, 1:23cv-12121. He had already lost in the First Circuit in his New Hampshire case, and Massachusetts is also in the First Circuit, so the Castro Massachusetts case clearly could not have succeeded.

Also on December 7, he dismissed his Montana case, Castro v Jacobsen, 6:23cv-62.

Defendants in No Labels Trademark Lawsuit File Brief

Posted on by December 14, 2023
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On December 14, the group that has the website “NoLabels.com” filed its brief in its trademark dispute with No Labels. The political party known as No Labels had sued the people who run the website “NoLabels.com” on December 4, alleging that “NoLabels.com” is violating the No Labels trademark.

NoLabels.com first points out that No Labels originally had title to the website name, but voluntarily gave it up. As to the trademark issue, NoLabels.com says that there is no single entity “No Labels” anymore, because the party has qualified for the ballot in a dozen states, so there are now numerous No Labels entities, one in each state in which the group is ballot-qualified.

Here is the brief of NoLabels.com.

Delaware Sued Over Inability of Pretrial Detainees, or Persons in Jail for a Misdemeanor, to Vote

Posted on by December 14, 2023
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On December 7, an organization representing incarcerated persons filed a federal lawsuit in Delaware, to protect the ability of such individuals to vote. People who are in jail for a misdemeanor, and persons who are in jail pending trial, are theoretically permitted to vote in Delaware and all states. However, in practice, in Delaware, they cannot. Prisoners Legal Advocacy v Carney, 1:23cv-1397.

The state claims that such persons may vote absentee, but the law says they can only do so if they allege that they need an absentee ballot for reasons related to their employment. The plaintiffs argue that this conclusion is neither plausible nor is it safe to prevent prisoners from being charged with vote fruad. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee. Here is the Complaint.

Third Circuit Stays U.S. District Order on Whether Pennsylvania Postal Ballots are Invalid if the Voter Fails to Fill in the Outer Envelope Question about the Date

Posted on by December 13, 2023
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On December 13, the Third Circuit stayed the U.S. District Court order in Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches v Secretary, 23-3166. This is the case on the Pennsylvania law that says postal ballots are invalid if the voter doesn’t fill out a blank on the outer envelope that asks for the date the ballot is being mailed. The U.S. District Court had struck it down under the “Materiality” provision of the 1964 civil rights act, which says that voters should not lose their vote if they make a mistake that is not meaingful.

The Third Circuit Judges said that they are issuing the stay even though they do not mean to imply that they intend to reverse, but that the question is important and the case deserves a stay. The Third Circuit will expedite the case. Thanks to Democracy Docket for this news.