On January 31, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered North Carolina to restore judicial primaries for statewide judicial posts. She did not order similar relief for local judicial posts.
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Political scientist Chris Edelson has this article in Marketwatch, making the case for an entirely new U.S. Constitution.
New Mexico Representative Moe Maestas (D-Albuquerque) has introduced HJM 19. It calls on the state legislature to study ballot access. New Mexico has some of the worst ballot access laws in the nation. It is the only state that requires the nominees of qualified political parties to submit a petition in order to be on the November ballot. This law only affects qualified minor parties (which nominate by convention), not qualified major parties. After a candidate receives a minor party nomination, he or she is then required to submit a petition of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote. This is not logical, because if a party has shown that it has a modicum of voter support, and the party supports the nominee, then the nominee has already shown that he or she has support.
New Mexico also has the most stringent independent presidential petition in the nation, 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. No other state requires an independent presidential candidate to submit a petition greater than 2% of the last vote. Thanks to Bob Perls for the news about HJM 19.
New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) has introduced SB 5615. It would allow voters to switch parties, and thereby vote in their new party’s primary, if the change was made at least 90 days before that primary. Even that is a strict requirement, but the current law forces voters to switch parties in the year before the election year. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.
On January 29, the Republican members from Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let them file an amicus curiae brief in the partisan gerrymandering case. The members want the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of the State Supreme Court’s order that requires a quick redrawing of the U.S. House district boundaries. The amicus will be paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The other side in this case has not consented to the filing of this amicus brief, so it is up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether to allow the filing.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party also is filing this amicus brief.