On March 4, the South Dakota legislature passed HJR 5003, which requires constitutional amendments to pass with 60% of the vote.
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Stateline, which tracks news about state governments, has this article on the increasing number of state and local governments that are trying Ranked Choice Voting. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On March 11, the Missouri House passed HJR 20. It is a proposed state constitutional amendment. Currently initiatives to amend the state constitution must have signatures of 8% of the last gubernatorial vote, from each of six U.S. House districts. The bill would change that to 10% in all eight U.S. House districts.
The bill also says that after a constitutional amendment gets on the ballot, it can’t pass unless it receives a two-thirds popular vote.
If the legislature passes the bill, then the voters would vote on it in November 2020. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.
Last month it was reported that the Nebraska Secretary of State had rejected the petition for party status of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, and had refused to allow the party to supplement its petition, even though the deadline for that petition is not until August 2022. However, the Secretary of State has now begun examining the signatures more carefully, and has already found some valid signatures that had earlier been rejected. The Secretary of State and the party are working together to perhaps find another 22 valid signatures.
On February 12, the Wyoming House defeated HB 160 by 17-43. It would have revised the law on the order of candidates on general election ballots. Currently the nominees of the party that won the last U.S. House election are automatically on the top line of the general election ballot. The bill would have changed that, so that any candidate would have an equal opportunity to appear first on the ballot. The bill’s sponsor is Representative Marshall Burt, the state’s only Libertarian legislator.
Here is a link to the legislature’s website that shows how each state house member voted. Click on “votes.” Then click on “H 3rd Reading Failed”.