Kentucky Representative Buddy Wheatley (D-Covington) has introduced two bills that affect who can vote in partisan primary elections. HB 193 would ease the deadline for a voter to switch parties. Current law requires voters to have joined a party by December 31 of the preceding year if they wish to vote in that party’s primary. HB 113 would allow an independent voter to choose a partisan primary ballot.

Representative Wheatley is also the author of the bill to eliminate the straight-ticket device, HB 70. None of these three bills has made any headway so far this year. They were all introduced in January.

On February 22, the Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed SB 2046. The bill slightly eases petitioning. Current law expects the signers of the petition to include their entire birthday, but the bill deletes the need to show the year of birth.

On February 11, the Texas Libertarian Party filed this brief in Bilyeu v Esparza, w.d., 1:21cv-1089. This is the lawsuit over the Texas law that does not allow a party that nominates by convention to consider nominating anyone who hadn’t already paid a filing fee to the state.

On February 21, Texas filed this brief. The hearing is Thursday, February 24.

The Libertarian Party convention is April 8-10.