On April 23, AB 1419 passed the California Assembly Elections Committee unanimously. This is the bill that says a newly-qualifying party that only wishes to participate in the presidential election may get on the ballot as late as July. The existing law requires newly-qualifying parties to qualify by early January of the election year.

If the bill is signed into law, then Hawaii will have the nation’s earliest mandatory petition deadline for a newly-qualifying party. The Hawaii February deadline is the subject of a pending lawsuit in U.S. District Court that was filed by the Justice Party last year.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen deserves a great deal of credit for bringing AB 1419 into existence.