On October 6, the nominees of the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties for U.S. Senate from Arizona debated each other. The debate was aired on PBS. See this story.
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On October 6, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen, an Obama appointee, refused to enjoin the Georgia law that lets individuals contribute as much as they want to the campaign of a Republican or Democrat for Governor or Lieutenant Governor, but which caps the contribution limit for other gubernatorial candidates at $7,600. The reason has to do with standing. The Libertarian Party and its nominee for Lieutenant Governor have appealed. Graham v Carr, n.d., 1:22cv-3613. Here is the order denying relief.
The Maine Libertarian Party’s ballot access case, filed in 2019, is still active. Still to be decided is whether the Libertarian Party is ballot-qualified for 2024. The Maine law gives a party two elections after it qualifies. It was put on the 2022 ballot by the court, and at the time no decision was made about when that status expires. Here is the party’s last brief in Baines v Bellows, 1:19cv-509. It was filed September 29.
The Forward Party has joined the board of the Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE). COFOE was formed in 1985 as a loose coalition of most of the nation’s nationally-organized minor parties, as well as other groups that support better ballot access, such as Fairvote and Independent Voting.
This is the time when minor party activists ought to be working to find sponsors for bills to improve the ballot access laws. Legislators decide which bills to introduce, for the most part, in the last three months of even-numbered years. COFOE hopes to assist individuals with this work.
Bills to improve the ballot access laws have passed since 1985, without the benefit of lawsuits, in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The last such bill was in Alaska in 2022, when the legislature eased the number of registrants for party status.
On September 16, the three candidates for Missouri Auditor debated each other. They are the nominees of the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties. See this story. Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.