New Hampshire Bill to Injure Ballot Access

Posted on by January 29, 2019
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New Hampshire House Bill 643 would move the non-presidential primary from the second Tuesday in September to the second Tuesday in June. It is sponsored by four Democratic representatives, and has a hearing in the House Election Law Committee on January 30.

New Hampshire petition deadlines for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties are tied to the date of the non-presidential primary. So if this bill passed, the petition deadline would be in May instead of August. Furthermore, New Hampshire requires independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, to submit a declaration of candidacy approximately two months before the primary, so those declarations would be due in March. The declaration law even applies to independent presidential candidates.

The bill would also shrink the time for the full party petition, which cannot be circulated before January 1 of an election year. It would now be due in May instead of August.

If the bill passed, New Hampshire ballot access deadlines for independent candidates would be unconstitutional. New Hampshire is in the First Circuit, and in 1980 the First Circuit struck down Maine’s independent presidential petition deadline of April 1, in Anderson v Quinn, 634 F.2d 616.

Kentucky Bill to Move Statewide Executive Elections from Odd Years to Presidential Years

Posted on by January 29, 2019
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On January 10, the Kentucky Senate passed SB 5, which is a proposed constitutional amendment. It would move elections for the statewide state executive positions, including Governor, from the odd years before presidential election years, to presidential election years. If it passes the legislature, the voters would vote on the idea in 2020.

The only states that now elect their Governor in odd years are Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Indiana Ballot Access Bill Gains a Co-Sponsor

Posted on by January 29, 2019
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On January 29, Indiana State Senator Victoria Spartz (R-Noblesville) co-sponsored SB 571, the bill that eases the Indiana ballot access laws for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. The bill’s main sponsor is Senator Greg Walker, Chair of the Senate Elections Committee. That committee has five Republicans and two Democrats. The committee heard the bill on January 28 but has not yet voted on it.

Hawaii Bill to Replace Presidential Electors Who Vote “Faithlessly”

Posted on by January 29, 2019
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Eleven Hawaii State Senators have introduced SB 119, which says that a presidential elector who votes for someone in the electoral college who did not get the most popular votes in Hawaii would be deemed to have resigned. The remaining electors would choose a replacement.

The Hawaii Senate only has 25 members, so this bill seems somewhat likely to pass the Senate, if it has eleven sponsors.

In December 2016, a Hawaii Democratic presidential elector voted in the electoral college for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton.

The bill says if the presidential candidate who carried Hawaii has died or become “mentally disabled”, then electors are free to vote for someone else. The bill does not explain who would decide if the presidential or vice-presidential candidate is now mentally disabled.