Delaware House Passes Bill Making Deadline for New Party Qualification Five Months Earlier

Posted on by May 20, 2021
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On May 18, the Delaware House passed HB 30 by 37-4. It moves the non-presidential primary from September to the fourth Tuesday in April. That has the indirect result of moving the deadline for a new party to qualify from August to early April. There is no reason for the deadline for new parties to be advanced, because new parties, and all small qualified parties, nominate by convention, not by primary. But because the law has always linked the party qualification deadline to the date of the primary, the effect of moving the primary also moves the minor party deadline.

The bill has no effect on independent candidate petition deadlines, because they are not linked to the date of the primary. They would continue to be in July.

New Mexico Secretary of State Defends Libertarian Party’s Status in Brief Filed in State Supreme Court

Posted on by May 20, 2021
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An independent candidate for congress in the upcoming New Mexico special election is trying to remove the Libertarian Party nominee from the June ballot. The lower court rejected the challenge, and the independent candidate appealed. This story describes the briefs before the State Supreme Court, in which the Secretary of State and the Libertarian Party are on the same side. The briefs were filed on May 18.

The independent candidate’s argument that the law is too easy is not sensible. The law does not say that a major party for district or county office only needs to get 5% of the total vote cast for president or governor merely within his or her race; it says that the candidate needs to poll that number of votes cast in the entire state. The independent challenger’s argument about a dog-catcher candidate’s vote being enough to establish major party status is thus erroneous. There is no such elected office anyway.

Section 1-7-7 says, “Major political party” means any qualified political party, any of whose candidates received as many as five percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for the office of governor or president.”

Nevada Senate Passes Bill Making Ballot Access for Newly Qualifying Parties More Difficult

Posted on by May 19, 2021
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On the evening of May 19, the Nevada Senate passed SB 292 on a 12-9 party-line vote, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against. It makes it more difficult to place new or previously unqualified parties on the ballot. In imposes a severe distribution requirement, and moves the petition deadline from mid-June to mid-May. It also puts a straight-column device on general election ballots. Now it goes to the Assembly.

Thirty-Five Republican U.S. House Members Vote Against Party Leadership and in Favor of Investigation of January 6

Posted on by May 20, 2021
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On May 19, the U.S. House voted on a resolution to set up a commission to investigate the January 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol. Every Democrat voted for it, and 35 Republicans voted for it. Later a list will be posted here.

Among the eleven Republicans elected in California’s top-two system, only one, David Valadao, voted in favor.

UPDATE: by state, the Republicans who voted “yes” are:
Alabama: Barry Moore
Arkansas: Steve Womack, French Hill
California: David Valadao
Florida: Maria Salazar, Carlos Gimenez
Idaho: Mike Simpson
Illinois: Rodney Davis, Adam Kinzinger
Indiana: Trey Hollingsworth
Iowa: Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Michigan: Fred Upton, Peter Meijer
Mississippi: Michael Guest
Nebraska: Don Bacon, Jeff Fortenberry
New Jersey: Chris Smith
New York: Andrew Garbarino, Chris Jacobs, John Katko, Tom Reed
Ohio: David Joyce, Anthony Gonzalez
Oklahoma: Stephanie Bice
Oregon: Cliff Bentz
Pennsylvania: Brian Fitzpatrick
South Carolina: Tom Rice
South Dakota: Dusty Johnson
Texas: Tony Gonzales, Van Taylor
Utah: John Curtis
Washington: Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse
West Virginia: David McKinley
Wyoming: Liz Cheney