On March 20, the Maine House Elections Committee heard LD 1083, which would provide for ranked choice voting in Maine’s presidential primaries, if the party agrees. Here is a description of the testimony. The committee has not acted yet on the bill.
The California Globe has this story about the March 19 hearing in the California Senate Elections Committee on SB 27, the presidential tax returns bill. The reporter, Katy Grimes, appears to be the first reporter who actually watched the hearing and then published a story about it. UPDATE: watch the hearing at this link. SB 27 is the first bill on the agenda. The portion of the hearing on that bill lasts 20 minutes.
The New Mexico Political Report has this useful summary of important election law bills that passed this year in the legislature, and those that failed.
The article mentions HB 407, but implies that it doesn’t change anything of importance. Actually HB 407, the omnibus election law bill, made big improvements for ballot access for independent candidates. So far it is the only bill that has passed the legislature of any state this year that eases ballot access, except for the New York bill that cut the primary petitions for 2019 primaries (but not primaries in future years).
On March 19, the Arizona Libertarian Party sent this two-page letter to the three judges who heard its ballot access lawsuit on March 12. The purpose of the letter is to clarify a fact about the case that seemed obscured during the oral argument.
On March 20, the Nevada Democratic Party released a plan to change its presidential caucuses in 2020. The plan will go into effect, assuming the national Democratic Party approves it. Caucuses have always been criticized in the past because if the caucus is on an evening in which some people are working, or can’t attend for another reason, they can’t vote. The new plan allows five different days for participation. See this story. Thanks to Steve Kamp for this news.
