On June 30, the Idaho Democratic Party state convention voted to use the 2020 presidential primary, which will be in early March. This will be the first Democratic presidential primary in Idaho since 2008. Idaho Democrats used caucuses in 2012 and 2016. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.
The South Dakota Constitution Party held a state nominating convention on Saturday, July 14, but no one received a nomination because the identity of the party’s state officers isn’t settled. The party will hold a second convention on August 14. See this story.
The West Virginia Constitution Party says it already has enough signatures to place its U.S. Senate candidate, Don Blankenship, on the ballot, although the petition is not due until August 1. See this story.
On July 16, a U.S. District Court heard a case challenging the practice of New Hampshire election officials, relative to absentee mail ballots. The practice is to discard such ballots, without telling the voter, if the official believes the voter’s signature on the ballot envelope doesn’t match the voter’s signature on the voter registration application. The case is Saucedo v New Hampshire Secretary of State, 1:17cv-183. See this story.
The case is before U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee.
On July 16, the Kansas City Star editorialized that Kansas government should no longer pay the election-administration costs of Republican and Democratic primaries, because neither party lets independents vote in their primaries. As the editorial says, independents can vote in major party primaries if they sign up with a major party at the polls on primary day, but some independent voters don’t want to do this. The editorial also points out that in Missouri, there is no such thing as registration into parties, and any voter on primary day is free to choose any primary ballot. Thanks to Shawn Griffiths for the link.
