Hearing Set in Texas Ballot Access Case

Posted on by July 16, 2026
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U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman will hear Collier v Nelson, w.d., 1:26cv-1574, on Tuesday, July 28, at 3 p.m. This is the case in which independent candidate Michael Collier, who is running for Lieutenant Governor of Texas, seeks injunctive relief to get on the ballot. The law says that an independent candidate can’t begin petitioning until after the run-off primary, if that particular race happens to have had a run-off primary. There was a run-off primary for Lieutenant Governor. That means Collier was given only 30 days to collect 81,030 valid signatures. No independent candidate for statewide office in Texas has ever managed to qualify in the compressed time limits.

Forward Party Files New Mexico Ballot Access Case

Posted on by July 15, 2026
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On July 15, the New Mexico Forward Party filed a federal lawsuit against the ballot access laws. New Mexico Forward Party v Toulouse Oliver, 1:26cv-2286. Here is the Complaint. Although the Forward Party successfully qualified as a minor party earlier this year, it will have almost no nominees on the ballot this year because of a unique New Mexico law that forces the nominees of a qualified party that nominates by convention to submit their own individual petitions after they have been nominated. For statewide office this year, the nominee petitions are over 14,000 signatures, and the petitioning can’t start until March of the election year.