The ballot access petition requirements in many states shot up last week, due to the heavy voter turnout in November 2018. Nevertheless, presidential candidates who run outside the two major parties in 2020 will face a slightly lesser petition burden than such candidates faced in 2016. The December 1 print edition of Ballot Access News will have the 2020 petition requirements for each state. This statement assumes that presidential candidates will be pragmatic, and use the easier method in each state for getting on the ballot, new party or independent.

In 2020, just three states are responsible for 57.6% of the entire national petition burden. They are California, Florida, and Texas. California is already being sued over its independent presidential petition requirement, and it is likely that soon Florida and Texas will also be sued.

The Kentucky State House race in the 13th district was won by the Democratic nominee, who had one more vote than his Republican opponent. See this story.

The Detroit News has a story on how the absence of a Michigan straight-ticket device altered the November 2018 election. This was the first election in the history of government-printed ballots in Michigan with no device. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

As the story says, Proposal 3 passed, and restores the straight-ticket device. The device is now in the State Constitution, so it can’t be repealed without a future vote of the people. Proposition 3 also added no-excuse absentee voting and election-day registration.