The Missouri legislature adjourned on May 18. Two bills to make ballot access more difficult failed to pass.

HB 1285 would have increased the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from 10,000 signatures to 2% of the last vote cast, which would have been greater than 110,000 signatures. The sponsors were Representative Pat Conway (D-St. Joseph) and Dan Stacy (R-Blue Springs). The bill had passed committee in the House but made no further progress.

HB 1232 would have banned “sore losers”. It was sponsored by Representative Stacy. It also had passed committee in the house, but did not advance beyond that. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.

The 2018 West Virginia legislature passed HB 4434, to make it clear that people who lose a primary (for office other than president) can’t petition onto the general election ballot. See this story, which says that it doesn’t go into effect for 90 days after it was signed. It was signed on March 22, so it won’t be in effect until late June.

But Don Blankenship, who ran for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate this year, might want to petition as an independent. Whether the old law would block him is not clear.

On May 16, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed HB 2538. It eliminates special U.S. Senate elections if the seat becomes vacant in the middle of an election year. Instead, in such circumstances, the gubernatorial appointee would serve two and one-half years instead of just one-half year.

The bill does not have an urgency clause, so can’t take effect this year. Republicans tried to attach an urgency clause but that takes a two-thirds vote in each house of the legislature, so Democrats blocked the urgency clause.