On Sunday, March 10, the New Mexico Senate Rules Committee passed HB 55, the National Popular Vote Plan bill. Now it goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thanks to Rick Lass for this news.
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Utah currently has provision in its election code for a presidential primary, but the law doesn’t set the date. On March 8, the Senate Government Operations Committee passed SB 242, which sets it in the first week of March. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for this news.
Iowa Senate Study Bill 1241 has been introduced. Among many other provisions, it would severely harm ballot access for independent candidates and the nominees of new and previously unqualified political parties. It raises the number of signatures for President, U.S. Senate, and Governor from 1,500 signatures to 4,000 signatures. It raises the number for other statewide offices from 1,500 to 2,500 signatures. It raises U.S. House from 375 to 2,000. It raises State Senate from 100 to 200, and State House from 50 to 100.
For the statewide petitions, it imposes a severe county distribution requirement. President, U.S. Senate, and gubernatorial petitions would need 200 signatures from each of ten counties; other statewide offices would need 125 from each of ten counties.
The petition deadline would change from mid-August to 81 days before the June primary. In 2020, that would mean a deadline of March 13.
Iowa now has a provision for a convention with 250 attendees, as another method for unqualified parties to appear on the ballot. The bill raises the number of attendees to 500.
The deadline would be unconstitutional under Anderson v Celebrezze, and the county distribution requirement would be unconstitutional under Moore v Ogilvie. Thanks to Nathan Hetzel for this news.
This Politico article sets out the rules for candidates to qualify for the first two Democratic presidential debates, and concludes that two individuals who have never held elective office may qualify. They are Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson.
The rules require them to receive contributions from 65,000 individuals, including at least 200 individuals in each of twenty states. Or they may qualify by polling at least 1% in a national poll. But if these two alternative methods result in more than twenty candidates qualifying, then every candidate must meet both alternatives.
The article says Andrew Yang is closer to qualifying than Marianne Williamson. Yang’s webpage says he already has contributions from 56,000 individuals. See this wikipedia article about him. Thanks to Election Law Blog for the link.
Florida initiatives need 766,200 valid signatures to obtain a place on the November 2020 ballot. Before the petition starts to circulate, the backers submit a copy of their proposal. Two initiatives for a top-two system have submitted their proposal to the Secretary of State. One applies to congress and one to state and local partisan office. This post has been updated; the original post said the petition was further along than it is. Thanks to Jim Riley for the correction.
The initiative is backed by several wealthy individuals, including attorney Eugene Stearns, and businessmen Carlos de la Cruz and Mike Fernandez. Initiatives need 60% of the popular vote in order to pass. If the measure gets on the ballot in 2020 and gets at least 60% of the vote, it would take effect in 2024. Thanks to Steve Kamp for this news.