New York Libertarian Candidates File Ballot Access Brief in State Court, Appellate Division

Posted on by September 1, 2022
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On August 31, the New York Libertarian candidates for statewide office filed this brief in the State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, in Albany. 535599, Third Department. Sharpe v New York State Board of Elections. The brief argues that the lower state court was wrong to uphold the exclusion of the slate, both on constitutional grounds, and procedural grounds.

The oral argument is September 9.

Also, the federal New York Libertarian ballot case, which strictly concerns the constitutional argument against the 45,000-signature requirement, will be argued on September 6.

Democrat Wins Special Election for Alaska’s U.S. House Seat

Posted on by August 31, 2022
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On August 31, the Alaska Division of Elections basically finished tallying the August 16 votes in the special election for U.S. House. Mary Peltola, the only Democrat on the ballot, won with 51.47%; Sarah Palin had 48.53%. See this story.

This election used ranked choice voting for the final round, but not the first round, which was in June.

The term only lasts until January 2023.

Wyoming Has Unusually Large Number of Minor Party and Independent Candidates for Legislature

Posted on by August 31, 2022
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This year, Wyoming has more minor party and independent candidates on the ballot for the legislature than at any time in the last hundred years. The Libertarian Party has seven; the Constitution Party has three; and there are seven independents.

In 2020 legislative races, the Libertarian Party had six; the Constitution Party had none; and there were three independents.

For statewide races, the Libertarian Party has candidates for Governor and U.S. House; the Constitution Party has a candidate for U.S. House. No independent candidates qualified for any statewide race.

The seven Libertarians running for legislature are Amanda Padilla, Patrick Gonzales, Dennis Laughlin, Marshall Burt, Misty Morris, Carrie Satterwhite, and Bethany Baldes. The three Constitution Party legislative nominees are Michael Ray Williams, Matthew Freeman, and Larry Williamson. The independents running for legislature are Patrick Junek, Dan Brecht, Todd Peterson, Bruce Jones, Brenda Lyttle, Bob Strobel, and Jeff Martin.

Eighth Circuit Upholds County Distribution Requirement for Statewide Initiatives in 2-1 Vote

Posted on by August 31, 2022
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On August 31, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Eggers v Evnen, 22-2268. This is the case over the Nebraska county distribution requirement for statewide initiatives. By a 2-1 vote, the panel reversed the U.S. District Court and said the law is likely constitutional. Therefore it dissolved the injunctive relief that had been granted by the U.S. District Court. The initiative proponents who had filed the case had been trying to qualify an initiative related to marijuana.

Here is the opinion. The majority consists of Judge Raymond Gruender, a Bush Jr. appointee; and Judge David Stras, a Trump appointee. The dissent is by Judge Jane L. Kelly, an Obama appointee.

The majority says initiatives aren’t created by the U.S. Constitution, so states need not treat each voter equally in matters concerning the initiative process. But the dissent quite shrewdly points out that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t require the states to let the voters elect presidential electors either. Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down county distribution requirements for independent presidential petitions in 1969 in Moore v Ogilvie. The majority does not discuss that very powerful point.