Hearing on Arkansas Bill to Move Primary from May to March is Postponed Again

Posted on by February 14, 2019
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Arkansas SB 276 would move the primary for all office from May to March. It would also move the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties from January of the election year, to November of the year before the election. It was on the agenda in the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee for February 14, but the author, Senator Trent Garner, again didn’t bring it up. It had also been on that committee’s agenda for February 12, so that is twice that it has been postponed. It is now on the committee agenda for February 19.

Congressional Bill to Allow Free Public Access to PACER

Posted on by February 14, 2019
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Two members of the U.S. House have introduced a bill to let members of the public see federal court documents, without being charged 10 cents per page. Currently anyone can see any U.S. Supreme Court brief, just by going to the U.S. Supreme Court web page. But if anyone wants to see documents filed in a lower federal court, one must be signed up with PACER. PACER charges ten cents per page. Also the pay feature of PACER requires users to establish an account and use a password, which is cumbersome. If PACER were free, there would be no need for any of that.

The sponsors are Mike Quigley (D-Illinois) and Doug Collins (R-Georgia). The bill doesn’t have a bill number yet. The bill is called the Electronic Court Records Reform Act. Thanks to Howard Bashman for this news.

California Bill to Lower Voting Age to 17

Posted on by February 14, 2019
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Three Democrats and two Republicans in the California Assembly have introduced ACA-8. It would amend the California Constitution to set the voting age at 17. The authors are Democrats Evan Low, Autumn Burke, and Todd Gloria; and Republicans Randy Voepel and Phillip Chen. If the legislature approves the bill in the next few months, then the voters would vote on it in March 2020.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson Comments on Bill that Increases Petition Requirement for New Parties

Posted on by February 14, 2019
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This National Public Radio story has a quote from Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson about SB 163, the bill increasing the petition requirement for newly-qualifying parties. The Governor seems to approve of the idea that the requirement ought to be a percentage, rather than a flat number, but he also sounds undecided about the bill.

The story also says that when the Arkansas House approved the bill on Wednesday, February 13, there was no debate.

Green Party Candidate for Connecticut Legislature Qualifies for Public Funding

Posted on by February 13, 2019
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Connecticut is holding a special election for State Representative, 39th district, on February 26. The Green Party nominee, Mirna Martinez, a school board member, collected 660 signatures (15% of the vote cast in this district in the last election) so as to qualify for public funding. The Green Party contested this district in November 2018 and got 6.02%, not enough to qualify for public funding without a petition.