The Ohio legislature has adjourned, without passing HJR 19. It would have made it more difficult for statewide initiatives to pass. Currently a statewide initiative petition may take as long as is needed, but the bill would have required such petitions to be completed within six months. It also would have required statewide initiatives to receive at least 60% of the vote, and it would have set the deadline for submitting the petition in April of election years. If it had passed, the voters would have voted on it, because it is a proposed constitutional amendment. It may be re-introduced in 2019.

On December 20, a Case Management Report was filed with the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Florida, in Jacobson v Detzner, n.d., 4:18cv-262. This is the case filed earlier this year by the national Democratic Party against the Florida law that says the party that won the last gubernatorial election always gets the top line on the ballot. The Democrats had suspended their lawsuit, waiting to see if they won the governorship last month. They did not win, so they are putting the lawsuit back on track.

Democrats want the trial to start on May 27, 2019. The state prefers that it start in June 2019. The judge will soon decide on a date. The trial will consider expert testimony on whether being listed first on a general election ballot is helpful. These cases are always expensive, but the Democratic Party has the resources to bring in political scientists who have studied the effect of ballot order.

The Socialist Party has filed a document with the Maine Secretary of State, saying the party intends to qualify as a party. Therefore, election officials will allow voters to register into the Socialist Party, to see if it can obtain at least 5,000 registrants by January 2020, the deadline. The Libertarian Party has also filed the notice. The Libertarian Party hopes to file a lawsuit soon to regain its 5,500 registrants that were converted to independents earlier this month. If the party had its registrants back, it would meet the threshold to be a new party again.