On March 24, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 70, which repeals the straight-ticket device.
Now the only states that have the device are Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
Utah HB 70 is the first bill in the nation that has been signed into law in 2020, that helps minor party and independent candidates.
On March 30, U.S. House member Mark Meadows resigned his seat in the North Carolina 11th district. Probably his seat will now remain vacant until either November 2020 or January 2021. There might be a special election in November 2020 to fill the seat for the two-month period until January 2021.
Theoretically a special election could be called earlier, but the state is not likely to do that, because the law would also require primaries, and possibly even a run-off primary, and all that is expensive.
According to this story, South Dakota legislators are considering a bill to let the Governor move the primary (for president and all other partisan office) from June 2 to July 28.
The presidential primary would not be very useful if it were on July 28, because by then the Democratic national convention would have already been held, although the Republican national convention is not until August 24-27.
On March 26, some Wisconsin civic groups, labor unions, and voting rights organizations, asked a U.S. District Court to postpone the April 7 primary. Here is the Complaint in Lewis v Knudson, 3:20cv-284 (w.d.). Among many other problems, the Complaint mentions that mail-in ballots must include not only the voter’s signature, but the signatures of a witness who is an adult U.S. citizen. Also, mailed absentee ballots don’t count unless they are received by election officials by April 7.
A somewhat similar lawsuit filed in the Eastern District on March 24 failed to achieve any relief, because U.S. District Court Judge William C. Griesbach, a Bush Jr. appointee, said none of the plaintiffs have standing. Here is the March 27 order in City of Green Bay v Bostelmann. The plaintiffs were the city and its Mayor.
The April 7 election is for the presidential primary, and non-partisan judicial races, including a State Supreme Court election. The primary for partisan offices other than president is not until August 11.
Lewis v Knudson is before U.S. District Court Judge William Conley, an Obama appointee who had already postponed the Wisconsin voter registration deadline to March 30 in another lawsuit, Democratic National Committee v Bostelmann, w.d., 3:20cv-249.
On March 30, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Elster v City of Seattle, 19-608. This was the challenge to the Seattle system of public financing of campaigns for city office. The law provides each registered voter with four vouchers. The voter can send them to the candidate of choice, and then the candidate submits them to the city for a check to be used for campaign expenses. The program is paid for by a property tax.
