On January 10, the attorney for the Alabama Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties mailed a complaint to the U.S. District Court in Alabama. The case is Stein v Chapman, number not assigned yet. The lawsuit challenges the March 13 petition deadline for new or previously unqualified parties. The statewide petition requires 44,829 valid signatures.

The 2011 session of the legislature moved the petition deadline from June to March. In 1991 the 11th circuit ruled that Alabama’s old ballot access law, which required 12,345 valid signatures by April, was unconstitutional because the deadline was too early.