On August 2, the Democratic National Committee submitted this document to the U.S. District Court that is hearing the North Carolina Green Party ballot access. The Democratic National Committee insists that the lawsuit cannot be settled with a consent decree. There is no consent decree yet, but it seems likely there will be one because the State Board of Elections on August 1 agreed that the party has enough valid signatures. A consent decree would be between the State Board of Elections and the Green Party, and would say the court doesn’t need to take further action because both sides have agreed.

Consent decrees have resolved ballot access lawsuits in federal courts many times. Examples include cases from the District of Columbia, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

On August 1, U.S. District Court Judge David Novak, a Trump appointee, issued an opinion in Thomas v Beals, e.d., 3:22cv-427. The issue was whether Virginia must hold elections for Delegate (the lower house of the legislature) before November 2023. The districts are based on the 2010 census, not the 2020 census. The ruling says there are too many procedural problems for any relief to be granted. Here is the opinion.

On July 30, John Rensenbrink died at the age of 93. Here is a National Public Radio story about him. He lived in Maine and was one of the founders of the Green Party of the United States.