On February 17, the Virginia House Privileges & Elections Committee passed SB 1148, which moves the non-presidential primary from the second Tuesday in June to the third Tuesday in June. The bill had already passed the Senate.
Because the non-presidential petitions for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, is on primary day, if the bill passes, the petition deadlines will be one week later than before.
On September 8, 2020, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Kanye West should not be on the November 2020 ballot as an independent for president, even though it appeared he had more than enough signatures. The court did not explain why it did that, but said, “An opinion will follow.”
It has now been almost six months, and the court has not yet issued its explanation. The basis seems to be that his candidates for presidential elector did not file campaign finance documents, yet no presidential elector candidates had ever before been required to file such documents, and the Secretary of State’s website, which has very clear instructions for independent presidential candidates, did not say the elector candidates need to file such documents.
On February 22, the Secretary of State of Maine filed a notice of appeal in We the People PAC v Bellows. This is the case in which the U.S. District Court last week enjoined the prohibition on out-of-state circulators for initiative petitions.
On February 19, a Virginia Circuit Court in the city of Richmond rejected the lawsuit by State Senator Amanda Chase to force her party, the Republican Party, to hold a 2021 gubernatorial primary. The opinion says she lacks standing. She is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination this year.
On February 19, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee passed HB 1156 by 22-11. It allows local governments to use ranked choice voting for elections for their own officers. The bill does not require local governments to use two rounds. But the bill says if a local government chooses to use two rounds, then the top five candidates would qualify for the second round.
The bill had passed the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee on February 11. It now goes to the House floor.
