On November 30, some Ohio voting rights groups and voters filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court to overturn the new U.S. House district boundaries. League of Women Voters v DeWine. Here is the Complaint.

In 2018 the voters of Ohio amended the state constitution to say the legislature “shall not pass a plan that unduly favors or disfavors a political party or its incumbents.” But the new districts make it likely that Republicans will win 3/4ths of the seats.

The Institute for Political Innovation has launched an initiative for a top-four system in Missouri. See this story. Like the other initiatives, this one makes it far more difficult for a party to attain or keep qualified status. By eliminating party nominees for all office except president, the initiative changes the definition of “party” from a group that got 2% for any statewide race, to one that got 2% for president. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.

Similar initiatives, abolishing party nominees, injured the ability of parties to be ballot-qualified in Washington and Alaska, and the Institute’s Nevada initiative has the same flaw. The only reason the top-two initiative in California did not have a similar flaw is that the California legislature passed a bill, letting the primary vote count toward qualified status, and also easing the number of registered voters for qualified status.

Activists in New York state have found a state legislator willing to introduce a bill in early 2022 to restore the old, more tolerant petition requirement and old definition of a qualified political party. Of course efforts will now be made to find more sponsors.

This is the season for activists to ask legislators for ballot access improvement bills. There are many states that badly need improvements in these laws.