The California State Senate will probably vote on AB 80 on Wednesday, June 15. This is the bill to move the presidential primary from February to June. UPDATE: the vote has been postponed until Thursday, June 16. The Senate spent June 15 on budget bills instead of ordinary bills. UPDATE: the vote has been postponed again, to June 20, Monday.
Cook Political Report has this chart, showing the status of congressional redistricting in every state (except, obviously, the states with only one U.S. House member). Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Republican Party of Washington state, and the Democratic Party of Washington state, each filed briefs with the 9th circuit on June 6, in the pending lawsuit against that state’s top-two system. Here is the Republican brief; here is the Democratic brief. Thanks to the Washington Secretary of State’s web page for the links.
Both briefs concentrate on the point that the Washington state top-two system links candidates with parties, via labels on the ballot, even though those candidates may not even be members of that party, and in any event may not have the approval of that party. The Republican brief also points out that “party preference” must be included in any advertising about any particular candidate, so if the Republican Party would want to run an ad attacking a candidate who is using the Republican label on the ballot, but whom the party believes is not a bona fide Republican, that very ad must also contradict itself by saying that candidate is a Republican.
Both briefs include reference to the evidence presented to the U.S. District Court, including evidence that even supporters of the top-two system commonly equate “party preference” with actual affiliation.
The Libertarian Party brief, which will discuss ballot access and trademark, is due June 20.
On June 15, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Elections Advisory Committee will hold its third public hearing. The location is the City/County Government Center in Albany, in southwestern Georgia, at 222 Pine Avenue, Room 100. The hearing starts at 10 a.m.
The Elections Advisory Committee is holding hearings to give the public a chance to suggest improvements in Georgia election laws. The committee holds a hearing once per month. There will also be a hearing in Augusta on July 19, at the Julian Smith Building at Lake Olmstead Park, 2200 Broad Street, also at 10 a.m. Thanks to Garland Favorito for this news.
Louisiana’s HB 561, to require candidates to submit copies of their birth certificate, never made any headway, and it is now too late for it to pass this year. See this story. It is overwhelmingly likely that no state will pass any bill this year requiring birth certificates for candidates.
On June 10, the Maine legislature passed LD 1376, which ends Maine’s election-day registration procedure. Maine has had election-day registration since 1973 and has been one of eight states with that policy. It is believed that Maine is the first state that ever had election-day registration to repeal it. Governor Paul LePage has already said he will sign LD 1376.
Earlier this year, the Montana legislature also repealed election-day registration, but Governor Brian Schweitzer vetoed that bill.
It is possible a referendum petition will be launched in Maine to ask the voters if they wish to keep election-day registration. The Democratic Party and its allied interest groups probably have the capability to obtain the needed signatures.