On August 4, the People’s Party filed its Eleventh Circuit brief in People’s Party of Florida v Department of State, 22-12451. The issue is the relatively new Florida law that makes it impossible for a newly-qualifying party to run any candidates in its first year on the ballot.
Here is the brief.
On August 2, a Connecticut Superior Court denied injunctive relief against the law that requires a candidate running in a primary for U.S. House to collect the signatures of 2% of that party’s registered members in 42 days. Most primary candidates in Connecticut never need to collect signatures, because they can also get on a primary ballot if they show significant support at a party meeting.
The plaintiff, Muad Hrezi, hoped to be on the 2022 Democratic primary ballot for U.S. House in District One. Hrezi v Merrill, Hartford, HHD-cv22-6156703-S. Here is the decision, which is noteworthy for doing a good job of listing precedents that struck down ballot access laws. Often when a judge upholds a law, the opinion neglects to mention the precedents on the other side.
In Connecticut, only parties that polled 20% of the last gubernatorial vote nominate by primary. Smaller ballot-qualified parties nominate by convention.
The plaintiff needed 3,833 valid signatures of Democrats.
On August 2, the North Carolina Democratic Party sued the State Board of Elections in state court, arguing that the State Board of Elections should not have certified the Green Party for the ballot. North Carolina Democratic Party v North Carolina State Board of Elections, Superior Court, Wake County.
Besides the Democratic Party, there is one voter-plaintiff, a registered Democrat, who says he signed the petition after the circulator mislead him about the purpose of the petition. Here is the Complaint. The Complaint says the Democratic Party has “an interest in competing on a level playing field against other political parties.”
Washington held its top-two primary on August 2. No minor party candidates placed first or second, so there will be no minor party candidates for any federal or state office in November.
The minor party candidates who were on the ballot in the 2022 primary were:
1. U.S. Senate, Socialist Workers, Henry Clay Dennison, placed eleventh out of eighteen candidates, although that might change slightly when all the ballots are counted. He polled .62%.
2. US House, 3rd district, American Solidarity, Oliver Black, placed ninth out of nine candidates with .17%.
3. US House, 8th district, Libertarian, Justin Greywolf, placed ninth out of eleven candidates with .68%.
4. State Rep, 8-2, Alliance, Larry Stanley, placed fourth out of four with 1.84%.
5. State Rep, 16-1, Peace & Freedom, Sharon Kay Schiller, placed third out of three with 3.34%.
6. State Rep, 27-1, Forward, Todd Briske, placed third out of three with 4.54%.
7. State Rep, 38-2, Libertarian, David Wiley, placed third out of four with 2.9%.
There were also three legislative candidates who ran under the label “Election Integrity Party”, but there is no such party. All three are Republicans. The three are Lori Theis in district 32-1, Mike Nykreim in district 41-1, and Amber Krabach in district 45-2. Nykreim and Krabach had been Republican candidates for the same seats in 2020. In 2022, Theis was the only opponent to a Democrat, so she advanced to the November ballot. Also in 2022, Nykreim was the only opponent to a Democrat, so he also advanced. Krabach was in a three-person race with a Democrat and another Republican, and she placed third.
The North Carolina Board of Elections has five members, all of whom must be registered members of one of the two largest parties. On August 2, four independent voters, along with Common Cause, sued the state in federal court to strike down the state law on who can serve. All four individual plaintiffs are accomplished, well-educated, and have a record of public service. Common Cause v Moore, m.d., 1:22cv-611.
A similar lawsuit had been filed in 2017, by attorney Michael Crowell representing himself, but it was never resolved and Crowell had dismissed his own case last year. Thanks to Kevin Hayes for the news about the new lawsuit.
