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                        as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.

181382P.pdf   07/01/2019  Mark Moore  v.  John Thurston
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  18-1382
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Little Rock   
[PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Loken and Stras, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Election law. In action challenging Arkansas's ballot access requirements for independent candidates, in particular, the date by which they must file their petitions, the district court determined that the March 1 petition filing deadline was not narrowly drawn to serve the state's compelling interest in timely certifying signatures and entered injunctive relief permitting plaintiff to file by May 1. The State appeals. However, the Arkansas state legislature recently amended the challenged statute to accord with the petition filing date sought by plaintiff; as a result, no controversy remains, and the appeal is dismissed as moot; however, the district court's judgment will not be vacated, as the public interest is served by allowing the judgment to stand; independent candidates and voters have repeatedly - and successfully - challenged Arkansas's ballot-access requirements, and the public interest is best served by a substantial body of judicial precedents limiting the burden that those requirements may place on candidates' and voters' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Judge Stras, concurring in part and dissenting in part.