On November 17, the Indiana Green Party filed its Brief in Indiana Green Party v Sullivan, 23-2756. This is the case that challenges the petition requirements for minor party and independent candidates. No statewide general election petition has succeeded in Indiana since 2000, when Pat Buchanan petitioned as the Reform Party presidential nominee.
Here is a story with a link to his opinion.
This article has a number of interesting and useful links, including the appellate brief to the Colorado Supreme Court and the tweet about it from J. Michael Luttig, former Judge on the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Binkley is the “surprise candidate” in this story.
On November 21, U.S. District Court judge Susan P. Baxter, a Trump appointee, struck down a Pennsylvania election law that says postally mailed ballots are invalid if the voter forgets to fill out a blank on the outer envelope with the date, or if the voter gets the date wrong. Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP v Schmidt, w.d., 1:22cv-339. Here is the opinion.
The plaintiffs won under the Materiality Provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That provision says voters cannot be deprived of their vote if the reason for invalidating their vote is an error that has not actual impact on election administration. The plaintiffs argued that the blank line on the outer envelope, on which the date should have been inserted, is not actually useful. The county election office date-stamps all the ballots as they arrive.
This case was filed in 2022 and attracted an amicus from the Republican National Committee in defense of the state law. The same issue had also been thrashed out in state court last year.
