On February 20, the Tennessee House Subcommittee on Elections and Campaign Finance passed HB 1273.  It provides that voter registration forms will ask the applicant to choose a party, or else choose independent status.  It also says that primaries in the future will be closed.

The bill is legally flawed because it does not take into account that any party with its own primary has a First Amendment freedom of association right to invite independents to vote in its primaries, per Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut, a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The bill is ambiguous as to newly-qualifying parties, which nominate by convention.  And it is ambiguous about the ability of voters to register into an unqualified party.  It does provide that choices on the voter registration should include a blank line.  The sponsor is Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden).

Eight Oregon legislators have introduced SJR 22, which would amend the Constitution to change the voting age to 16.  If the legislature approves it, it would be placed on the November 2020 ballot for the voters to decide whether to approve it.  Thanks to Political Wire for this news.

Tony Pecinovsky, a prominent leader of the Communist Party USA, is running for St. Louis alderman, 14th ward, in the Democratic primary.  The primary is March 5, 2019, and then the general election is April 2.

Pecinovsky has one opponent in the Democratic primary, the incumbent.  She has made his Communist Party affiliation an issue in the campaign.  See this story.

The Communist Party has not run nominees under its own banner for many decades, but it still exists as an organized party, and has its national convention June 21-23.  Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.