Arizona Legislature Adjourns, After Having Passed Only One Significant Election Law Bill

Posted on by May 12, 2018
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The Arizona legislature adjourned on May 4. The only election law bill of significance that passed is HB 2538. It changes the rules for special congressional elections. Governor Doug Ducey has not signed it yet. In any event, it does not have an urgency clause, so can’t take effect for 90 days. If it had an urgency clause, it would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it (assuming he does sign it). But two-thirds in each house is needed for an urgency clause, and Democrats opposed the bill so it didn’t get enough votes to take effect immediately.

The bill says that in the future, if a U.S. Senator dies or resigns more than five months before the August primary, then the gubernatorial appointee would serve for over two years, instead of just serving for a few months. Arizona has a Republican Governor. This story explains the relationship between the bill and the illness of Senator John McCain.

Bills that did not pass this session include: (1) HB 2051 and SB 1126 would have allowed independent voters to vote in presidential primaries. Currently independents can vote in non-presidential primaries, but not presidential primaries; (2) HB 2032 would have forced Tucson to use non-partisan elections for its own officers; (3) HCR 2014 would have asked voters to amend the State Constitution so as to delete the requirement that independents can vote in non-presidential primaries; (4) HCR 2022 would have provided that state legislators, instead of voters, choose major party nominees for U.S. Senate; (5) HCR 2036 would have let individuals under age 25 run for state office.

New York Democratic Party May Consider Letting Independent Voters Vote in Democratic Primaries

Posted on by May 12, 2018
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The New York state Democratic Party meets on May 23-24. According to this story, some Democrats are working to get a vote at that meeting on whether to change the party bylaws, and allow independent voters to vote in Democratic Party primaries.

The change will need a vote of two-thirds of the delegates.

The article reveals that the state party’s Executive Director, Geoff Berman, did not even know that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that if parties want to allow independents to vote in their primaries, they have the power to make that decision, no matter what state election law says. That case was Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut.

For First Time Since Top-Two Started, Green Party Will Have a U.S. House Nominee on the California General Election Ballot

Posted on by May 11, 2018
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The California top-two system started in 2011. Ever since, no third party candidate for Congress has been on the ballot in November, except in 2014 a Peace & Freedom Party member, Adam Shebeita, qualified in the 44th district. He achieved that because only one person filed to be on the primary ballot in that district and Shebeita placed second as a write-in in the primary.

But in 2018, there are two U.S. House races in which minor party candidates will appear on the November ballot, because the only person who filed, other than the minor party candidates, was the Democratic incumbent. One of these districts is the 40th, in which the only two candidates on the primary ballot are the incumbent Democrat and a Green, Rodolfo Cortes Barragan. Thus Cortes Barragan will be the first Green to be listed in November for U.S. House, since California started using top-two.

The other district is the 34th, in which three candidates filed to be on the June ballot, the Democratic incumbent, a Green, and a Libertarian.

Cortes Barragan has an article about these two races at the Independent Voters Network.

There are also two races in which only the incumbent Democrat filed to be on the primary ballot, so it is possible a minor party write-in candidate might place second. Those are the 13th and 32nd districts.

Green Party Legislator in Maine Has Unusual Power to Determine Whether Legislature Reconvenes

Posted on by May 11, 2018
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The Green Party has two state legislators in Maine, Ralph Chapman and Henry John Bear. Bear doesn’t have the same power that most Maine legislators have, because he is a tribal representative, but Chapman is a full-fledged state house member.

The Maine legislature has adjourned but much business was not completed, and many legislators want to reconvene. Whether the legislature reconvenes depends on whether a majority of the three party caucuses wish to reconvene. So if the Democratic and Republican caucuses do not agree, Chapman can break the tie, because the Maine legislature recognizes the Green Party caucus. See this story.