Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has signed AB 192, the bill to end Nevada caucuses and have presidential primaries for major parties. He signed it June 4 but that was not revealed until June 11.
The bill says Nevada should have the earliest presidential primary in the nation, but New Hampshire law has the same provision, and New Hampshire has experience in moving the date of its presidential primary at the last minute. The New Hampshire law lets the Secretary of State set the date.
On June 7, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said he wants the initiative process restored. See the very bottom of this article. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in May 2021 that the initiative process is internally flawed and can’t be used until it is fixed.
The New Hampshire legislature will appoint a conference committee for HB 98. This is the bill to move the non-presidential primary from September to some earlier month. The House wants it in June and wants it effective for 2022. The Senate wants it in August and doesn’t want the change to be in effect until 2024.
On June 11, the Elections Subcommittee of the House Administration Committee will hold a hearing on voting rights and HR 4, the John Lewis Act, which proposes that all state election law changes be submitted for review to the U.S. Justice Department. See this announcement from the subcommittee. The title of the hearing seems gramatically faulty. One wonders if someone forgot to insert “and” between “to Vote” and “to Interfere.” Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for this news. The hearing will be at 11:00 a.m. eastern.
On June 7, Michael Crowell voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit over the provision of North Carolina law that prohibits independent voters from serving on election boards. He did so because he recently was appointed to another state commission, and North Carolina law does not permit state officers to serve on election boards. Crowell v North Carolina Election Board, m.d., 1:17cv-515.
This case was four years old and had never received an opinion. One reason it was so prolonged is that everyone involved had been waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide Carney v Adams, a similar lawsuit from Delaware. But then the U.S. Supreme Court punted on that case, ruling that the plaintiff didn’t have standing because he hadn’t firmly said he wanted to be appointed, so that left the main issue unsettled.
