On May 17, the Missouri legislature adjourned.  The most significant election law bill that passed is SJR 14, a proposed constitutional amendment.  Missouri now has term limits for Governor, but not for any of the other statewide offices.  The bill would change the Constitution to provide for term limits for Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Auditor.  The voters will vote on this amendment in November 2020.

Bills that failed would have converted the open primary to a closed primary; provided for ranked choice voting; would have elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor jointly; would have set up automatic voter registration; would have made it more difficult to put initiatives on the ballot; and moved the filing deadline for primary candidates one week earlier.  Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.

The Independent View, Michael Drucker’s blog, has this post with the details of how Democratic presidential candidates qualify for the first debate, which is coming up next month.  Since the criteria depend on polls, it is interesting to compare the Democratic debate rules with the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates for general election debates.  The Democratic rules concerning polls are much more specific.  They set forth the precise polls that count.  The Commission does not name any particular polls.

On May 16, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee passed HB 2504.  It imposes filing fees on candidates nominated by parties that nominate by convention.  But it also makes it easier for a party to remain on the ballot.

In Texas, qualified parties, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, always nominate by convention, not by primary.  Under current law, no candidates pay filing fees except candidates filing in a primary.  The only valid state purpose for the fees is to prevent the primary ballots from being too crowded, so there is no legal rationale for the filing fee part of the bill.

The part of the bill that makes it easier for a party to remain on the ballot would have the effect of putting the Green Party back on the ballot.  The Green Party last appeared on the ballot in 2016.  The bill says if a party polled 2% for any statewide race at any of the last five elections, it is qualified.  So if it becomes law, the Green Party would be back on the ballot.  It was on in 2000 and 2002, and also it was on in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Two Libertarians testified against the bill (because of the filing fee provision) and one Green testified in favor of the bill.