Lawsuit Against Louisiana’s January Petition Deadline for Independent Candidates for U.S. Senate is Still Pending

Posted on by October 5, 2026
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This year, for the first time, Louisiana is holding closed primaries for U.S. Senate. The law converting U.S. Senate elections to closed primaries also requires independent candidates, and the nominees of all parties other than the Democratic and Republican parties to submit a petition to get on the November ballot. And the law says the petition is due in January. No one was able to comply with this petition requirement. Also, the law says registered members of the Republican and Democratic Parties can not sign the petition. A similar law once existed in Arizona but was declared unconstitutional in Campbell v Hull in 1999. There are no other precedents on that issue.

An independent candidate, Charles Carpenter, filed a pro se lawsuit against the requirements for independent candidates. Carpenter v Landry, m.d., 3:26cv-791. Even though ballots have been printed and therefore it is virtually impossible that the judge would order Carpenter to be placed on the ballot, the case is still pending. It is conceivable that Carpenter could win declaratory relief even if he can’t get on the ballot.

See the Maine 2026 Ranked Choice Voting Ballot

Posted on by October 4, 2026
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Here is a sample ballot for Maine for the November 2026 election. In general elections, Maine uses ranked choice voting for federal offices but not state offices. And in federal offices, if there are only two candidates on the ballot and no declared write-in candidate, RCV is not used.

The reason RCV is not used for state office in general elections is because the Maine Supreme Court ruled that the state Constitution prohibits RCV in state office elections, although ironically it can be used for state office primaries.

So, RCV is almost meaningless in Maine in 2026. The U.S. Senate race only has two candidates on the ballot, although there is a declared write-in candidate, so RCV is used for the U.S. Senate election.

For Governor, there are three candidates on the ballot (Democratic, Republican, independent). RCV would therefore be truly useful for the gubernatorial election, but it can’t be used.

To see both sides of the ballot linked above, use the arrows.

Eleventh Circuit Holds Oral Argument in Georgia Libertarian Campaign Finance Case

Posted on by October 4, 2026
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On September 30, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in Libertarian Party of Georgia v Attorney General of Georgia, 25-12553. The issue is the Georgia law that says individuals can contribute more to the sitting Governor or Lieutenant Governor, if one of them is running for re-election or for any other office, than they can contribute to other candidates. Here is a news story about the oral argument. The judges are Robert Luck, Britt Grant, and William Pryor.

New Florida Registration Data

Posted on by October 4, 2026
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The number of active registered voters in Florida as of September 15 is: Republican 5,650,359; Democratic 4,099,509; Independent Party 326,417; Conservative 40,996; Libertarian 34,190; America First 29,423; Constitution 17,833; Boricua 19,547; Green 9,573; Coalition with a purpose 10,498; American Solidarity 8,760; Ecology 4,503; Socialism & Liberation 2,324; Forward 2,265; Jeffersonian 128; Men Going Their Own Way 72; We the People 398; independent and miscellaneous 3,326,134; total 13,582,929.

On May 12, 2026, the totals were: Republican 5,533,168; Democratic 4,027,949; Independent Party 315,225; Conservative 41,339; Libertarian 34,594; America First 19,777; Constitution 18,383; Boricua 17,311; Green 9,533; Coalition with a Purpose 8,605; American Solidarity 7,982; Ecology 4,189; Socialism & Liberation 2,258; Forward 1,909; Jeffersonian 106; Men Going Their Own Way 61; We the People 12; independent and miscellaneous 3,317,918; total 13,360,319.