South Dakota bill HB 1286 would lower the petition to create a new party from 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote to 1% of the last gubernatorial vote. It has seven sponsors and seems to be endorsed by the Secretary of State.
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On January 30, the South Dakota passed HB 1012 unanimously. It says a party only needs to pass the vote test every four years. Current law requires it to pass the vote test every two years.
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.
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.