Indiana is one of six states that still has a straight-ticket device. This newspaper story describes the attempts being made to abolish it.
30
On December 19, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed SB 293. It says that postal ballots must arrive in the election administration office by election day. See this story.
On December 19, U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney set a case management conference in Peace & Freedom Party v Weber, n.d., 3:24cv-8308. It will be Friday, February 27, at 10:30 a.m. It will be on zoom and anyone will be able to watch and listen.
This is the lawsuit in which four minor parties argue that the top-two system violates the voting rights of minor party members.
On December 16, the Maine Libertarian Party filed notice with the Secretary of State, letting her know that the party desires to let independent voters sign petitions to get Libertarians on the Libertarian primary ballot. The 2025 legislature passed a bill letting parties make this decision for themselves.
Maine requires a large number of signatures for candidates to get on primary ballots. For example, 2,000 signatures are needed for statewide office, regardless of how many registered voters the party has. But because 32% of Maine voters are registered independents, letting them sign will make it easier for Libertarians to get on the party’s primary ballot. It’s still a tough job, but the job would be much harder if only the 7,000 registered Libertarians could sign.
On December 16, the U.S. District Court in the Catoosa County (Georgia) Republican Party case ordered that the Secretary of State be brought into the lawsuit. This is the lawsuit filed by a county Republican Party, alleging that the party has the right to exclude candidates from the party’s primary if the party believes the candidates are not in sympathy with the goals of the party.
This is a sign that the judge is taking the case seriously. The order says that in effect, the Catoosa County Republican Party is asking that a Georgia election law be declared unconstitutional, so it makes sense to have the state itself in the case. Here is the order.