As previously reported, a New York State Supreme Court had put Mike Stern on the November 7, 2023 ballot as an independent candidate for Putnam County Highway Superintendent. He had been challenged, even though he had enough valid signatures, because a form had not arrived in the office of the Board of Elections, even though Stern had postally mailed it six days before it was due. The Supreme Court had put Stern on the ballot despite the late arrival of the form.

But on September 12, the Appellate Division, Second Division, had removed Stern because his lawsuit to get back on the ballot had not been served on the Defendants by the correct date, so he is off the ballot, even though the Appellate Division found no fault with the substance of the lower court decision. Stern v Putnam County Board of Elections, 2023-08009. Here is the Appellate decision.

As noted earlier, some Colorado voters filed a lawsuit in state court on September 6, seeking to bar Former President Donald Trump from Colorado ballots. On September 7, attorneys for Trump transferred the case to federal court. On September 8, attorneys for the plaintiffs said the case should go back to state court.

On September 12, U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer sent the case back to state court, for technical reasons. Here is his order. Anderson v Griswold, 1:23cv-2291.

On September 11, 2023, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called a Special Election to fill a vacant seat in the Minnesota House due to a member’s resignation. The date of the Special Election is Tuesday, December 5. The date of the primaries of the Democratic (Democratic-Farmer-Labor in Minnesota) and Republican primaries is November 16.

Yet, the Governor mandated the petitioning period for minor parties and Independent candidates to run from Wednesday, September 13 to Tuesday, September 19 at 5PM, with a requirement of 500 valid signatures of registered voters from within District 52B.

Minnesota’s harsh ballot access laws usually require such a petition drive to be completed within two weeks, but the Governor arbitrarily trimmed the petitioning period by half for this Special Election.

Also, given that this State House district is in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, petitioning will be much more difficult, as it will have to be conducted door-to-door, according to Cara Schulz of the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Petitioning at public locations in this situation will cause a low validity rate due to a likely high percentage of out-of-district voters signing the petition because of widespread voter ignorance of the State House district of their residence.

Release_ LPMN on Special Election in House District 52B is a press release on this matter from the Libertarian Party of Minnesota.