Some Michigan Voters File State Court Lawsuit to Disqualify Republican Gubernatorial Candidate for “Insurrection”

Some Michigan voters have filed a lawsuit in state court to disqualify Ryan Kelley from public office. He is a Republican candidate for Governor. The primary is August 2. See this story. The lawsuit says the Fourteenth Amendment’s “insurrection” clause should disqualify him. He was arrested recently for his actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, but he has not been convicted and he says he did not enter the Capitol Building.

The case is Estes v Secretary of State, in the State Court of Appeals, 362168.

Alabama Groups That Argued for Two Black-Majority U.S. House Districts File U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

On July 11, both sets of Alabama voter groups that favor two black-majority U.S. House districts filed their briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. Merrill v Milligan, 21-1086. They had won injunctive relief in the 3-judge U.S. District Court earlier this year, but then the U.S. Supreme Court had stayed the order and had also accepted the case for full review.

Here is the brief of the first set of plaintiffs.

Here is the brief of the second set of plaintiffs.

Legal Scholars Release Exhaustive Analysis of Claims that 2020 Presidential Election was Fraudulent

Eight legal scholars have released “Lost, Not Stolen”, a detailed analysis of every claim that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. The report includes the description of every lawsuit filed by supporters of President Donald Trump over fraud claims. The report concludes that the official election returns in every state are accurate. Here is a link to the Report. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.

North Carolina Green Party Files Ballot Access Lawsuit

On July 14, the North Carolina Green Party filed a federal lawsuit to obtain a spot on the 2022 ballot. North Carolina Green Party v North Carolina State Board of Elections, e.d., 4:22cv-78. Here is the 22-page complaint. Even if you don’t normally read legal briefs, considering reading this one. It details the dirty tricks used against the party. The lawsuit challenges the decision of the State Board of Elections to reject the party’s petition, even though the county election boards had already checked the petition and found it had enough valid signatures.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James C. Dever III, a Bush Jr. appointee. UPDATE: here is a news story that mentions the lawsuit, but says very little about it. FURTHER UPDATE: here is a better news story in Carolina Journal, which actually talks about what the lawsuit complaint says.

Connecticut Democrat Kept off Primary Ballot Because One Circulator’s Voter Registration Form Was Filed Late

On July 13, a Connecticut state trial court judge kept Juliemar Ortiz off the Democratic primary ballot. She was running for State Senator. She needed 1,585 signatures of registered Democrats and submitted 1,905, but she was found to be eleven signatures short. She would have had enough, but one campaign volunteer who had collected three sheets of signatures was not a registered Democrat at the time. She had filled out a voter registration card to become a registered Democrat, but the form was accidentally not submitted in time. See this story. Ortiz v Howard, Superior Court, Fairfield County, cv22-6116178.