On May 12, the Missouri legislature passed HB 1878, an omnibus election law bill. Among other things, it abolishes presidential primaries. If Governor Mike Parson signs the bill, caucuses will be used instead. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.
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On May 24, 1819 News, a multi-media news source for Alabama, reported that the Secretary of State has accepted the validity of the Libertarian Party’s statewide petition. It required 51,588 valid signatures. The party has been working on it for almost two years. It is the largest election-administration petition ever completed in the state. Alabama has never had the initiative procedure, nor recall, nor referendum, for statewide measures. Also candidates get on primary ballots with filing fees, not petitions.
The 2022 election will be the first election in Alabama with a minor party since 2002, the last time the Libertarians were on statewide.
This is the most difficult petition drive completed by any minor party since 2018, when the Libertarians overcame Ohio’s requirement of 54,965. That Ohio drive gained the party ballot status for both 2018 and 2020. No minor parties are on the Ohio 2022 ballot.
On May 24, the New York League of Women Voters filed this reply reply in LWV of NY v Kosinski, s.d., 1:22cv-4084. This is the case concerning whether the statewide office primaries should be on June 28 or August 23.
Also on May 24, the judge denied the state’s request to have their attorneys appear by phone. The judge said this is a fact-intensive case and the oral argument will be much better if attorneys are physically in court for the arguments.
Michigan has unusually severe petition requirements for primaries for some statewide offices and U.S. House. According to this story, three Republican candidates for U.S. House, and five Republican gubernatorial candidates, have been told they don’t have enough valid signatures. One Democrat running for U.S. House also has been told the same message.
UPDATE: see this article about the Michigan gubernatorial primary ballot problem by Andy Craig, posted at CATO.
This California Politico news story says that to an increasing extent, the California top-two system encourages incumbents to attack their stronger opponent, in hopes of boosting a weaker opponent, by insincere media ad campaigns. For example, a Democrat will boost his or her desired, weaker opponent by advertising that boosts the weaker opponent relative to the stronger opponent. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.