On March 11, U.S. District Court Judge Jill Parrish, an Obama appointee, refused to enjoin various Utah laws that make it difficult to put statewide initiatives on the ballot. Are you Listening Yet PAC v Henderson, 2:24cv-104. The group that filed the lawsuit complained about the February 15 deadline for initiative petitions in election years; the law banning all forms of payment to circulators except an hourly wage; the law that says only two signatures can fit on a petition sheet; and various other impediments. The plaintiffs had also complained about the ban on out-of-state circulators, but that ban was repealed earlier this year.

The judge seemed influenced by the fact that the plaintiffs had begun their petition drive in May 2023, but didn’t file the lawsuit until January 2024.

The plaintiffs dismissed the lawsuit on March 13, and will try again in state court, using the State Constitutional provisions that protect the initiative. Here is the U.S. District Court decision.

Two Rhode Island Representatives have introduced HB 7766, to ease the definition of a qualified party. Current law says it is a group that polled 5% for either Governor or President in the last election. The bill changes that to a group that polled 2% for any statewide race, or U.S. House. Alternatively it is a group that has at least one member in the legislature; or a group that has 5,000 registered members.

The Rhode Island Libertarian Party worked to get this bill introduced. Rhode Island is one of the few states in which the Libertarian Party has never been a qualified party. The others are Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. Also in Connecticut, Georgia, and Illinois, the party has been qualified for some offices but not all offices.

The bill’s authors are David J. Place (R-Gloucester) and Evan P. Shanley (D-Warwick).

On March 5, Massachusetts held a presidential primary for the Libertarian Party. The results: Chase Oliver 1,453; Jacob Hornberger 1,089; Michael Rectenwald 546; Lars Mapstead 399; Michael Ter Maat 314; no preference 3,982; miscellaneous write-ins 2,161; blank 980. Thanks to George Phillies and Third Party Watch for these figures, which are not official.