I'm no expert on this, but would the New Jersey Supreme Court's reasoning
a year ago in the Torricelli Senate withdrawal case offer a precedent (in
so far as any other State's judiciary might accept it as persuasive)? --
wasn't the core something along the lines of "notwithstanding statutory
deadlines, voters have a right to a competitive electoral race, with a
candidate from at least the Big Two parties". If it were accepted as a
precedent, the principle would seem pretty close to the Bush case ("party
would end up unrepresented on the ballot because of actions by its
candidate and strict statutory deadlines" ...)

That seems like it would do it.

And didn't John Anderson have to sue to get ballot access in some States
in 1980?

He did -- that was a First Amendment challenge to the early filing deadlines for independent candidates. I guess Bush could make a First Amendment challenge to the certification deadline (abridging the associational rights of Bush and his voters), but the Torricelli case seems better. Then again, the Illinois Supreme Court is a 5-2 Democrat court, so would probably be less sympathetic than the New Jersey Supreme Court was in Torricelli's case.

Dan

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