A bill in the Massachusetts legislature to implement automatic voter registration is likely to pass soon. The bill has already passed both chanbers, but the versions in each house aren’t identical, so a conference committee is being appointed to set the bill’s final language.

The bill passed the House on June 27 by 131-20, and passed the Senate on July 12 unanimously. Automatic voter registration means that every adult citizen known to exist will automatically be registered, unless he or she opts out. Automatic voting registration generally raises the validity rate of ballot access petitions. Thanks to Dan Tokaji for this news. The bill in the House is HB 4667, but for some reason in the Senate it is HB 4671.

On July 16, former Congressman Ron Paul endorsed Murray Sabrin for U.S. Senate in New Jersey this year. Sabrin is the Libertarian Party nominee. See this story.

On Tuesday, July 10, attorney David Boies argued in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in a case charging that the winner-take-all system for choosing presidential electors violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Ridriguez v Brown, c.d., 2:18cv-1422. Boies is famous for having represented Al Gore in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 in Bush v Gore.

Here is a four-minute you tube by a witness to the recent oral argument in Los Angeles. The judge is Consuelo Marshall, a Carter appointee. She was hearing the California government motion to dismiss the case. Apparently, during the argument, she said very little to indicate what her attitude is toward the case.

There are similar cases pending in Texas, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, but none of them have had oral arguments yet.