The Sacramento Bee has this op-ed by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, advocating that the California legislature pass SB 568, the bill that moves all partisan primaries from June to March, in all election years. The California legislature is only in session through Friday, September 15. So far the bill has passed both chambers, but they differ, so the Senate must vote again.
On September 12, a Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against part of the New Hampshire voter registration law passed earlier this year. New Hampshire Democratic Party v Gardner, Hillsborough Superior Court, 2017-cv-432. The order is by Justice Charles Temple, a member of the State Supreme Court.
The law says persons who register within 30 days of an election, and who don’t have documents proving that they are domiciled in New Hampshire when they register, must return to the registration office within either 10 days or 30 days (depending on whether their town has full-time hours for voter registration, or not) with the proof. If they don’t return, they are subject to a possible $5,000 fine or even jail time. This part of the law is suspended, pending further court activity. Here is the 13-page decision. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Nebraska State Senator Bob Krist has sent a press release, saying he will change his voter registration from Republican to independent on Wednesday, September 13. The press release also says on September 13 he will announce his future political plans. He had already indicated he might run for Governor in 2018 outside the two major parties.
On September 11, the California legislature passed AB 469 by 60-11. It lowers the number of signatures for statewide office, for candidates unwilling or unable to pay the filing fee, from 10,000 signatures to 7,000. It lowers the number for State Senate and U.S. House from 3,000 to 2,000. It lowers the number for Assembly from 1,500 to 1,000.
These petitions need not be completed. If they are only partially completed, then there is a proportional decrease in the filing fee. The California filing fees are higher than the fees of most states. For statewide office the fee is 2% of the office’s annual salary; for district office, 1%.
The bill now goes to Governor Jerry Brown. It also eliminates the ability of in lieu of petitions to be supplemented if the original petition doesn’t have enough signatures to completely eliminate the fee, but it makes it legal to start circulating these petitions earlier than under the existing law. The bill received a two-thirds vote in each house of the legislature, so that it can take effect immediately instead of January 1, 2018.
On September 11, the California legislature passed AB 837 by a vote of 54-20. It now goes to Governor Jerry Brown. It requires election officials to inform independent voters that they may choose the primary ballot of one of the various parties that let independents participate. For now, it only affects presidential primaries, but there is nothing in the language of the bill that would not also apply to primaries for other office, if California ever restores party primaries for other offices.
