Assuming the British Columbia preliminary election returns are confirmed in a recount, the Green Party will hold the balance of power in the provincial legislature. According to this article, the Greens are likely to use their power to try to obtain proportional representation for future provincial legislative elections.
On May 11, the Texas Senate Business & Commerce Committee passed HB 25 by a vote of 7-0. The bill eliminates the straight-ticket device. It had already passed the House.
On May 10, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 837. It requires that the Secretary of State furnish each polling place with large posters telling independent voters that certain political parties permit them to vote in their presidential primary. Under existing law, county election officials are supposed to inform independent voters of their choices on presidential primary day, but in fact different counties have different methods of doing this job.
The bill had already passed the Assembly Elections Committee. In the Appropriations Committee, the vote was 12-5. All the Democrats voted for the bill and all the Republicans voted against it. Republicans customarily do not let independent voters vote in the Republican presidential primary (although they did in 2004), whereas Democrats always allow it.
The Keene Sentinel has this story about the recent new Libertarian member of the legislature.
The print edition of the New York Times has this story on page A7. It is headlined “Green Party to Shift Balance of Power in British Columbia.”
