The California Assembly Elections & Redistricting Committee will hear AB 84 on April 26, Wednesday. The bill moves the primary for all office, in presidential years, from June to early March. The author, Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), is Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore.
On April 4, the New York State Senate passed SB 218, which repeals the in-district residency requirement for petition circulators, both for general election petitions and primary petitions. The bill adds a requirement that the circulator must not have signed the petition of a competing candidate for that same office. The bill passed on a voice vote, so there is no recorded tally.
If this bill is signed into law, there will still be a ban on out-of-state circulators. Whether that ban is constitutional is being litigated in U.S. District Court, in a Libertarian Party lawsuit, Merced v Spano, e.d., 1:16cv-3054. That case is in the process of gathering evidence.
Some Montana newspapers now have on-line stories about the April 8 ruling of a U.S. District Court that drastically shrunk the number of signatures needed for a candidate in the upcoming May special election for U.S. House. See this story in the Independent Record, which notes the ambiguity about whether any candidate who submits 400 signatures on Monday, April 10, have a chance to be on the ballot.
The Great Falls Tribune story simply assumes the candidates have no chance to be on the ballot.
The U.S. Virgin Islands held a special legislative election on Saturday, April 8, to fill a vacant seat. Janelle Sarauw, an independent candidate was elected, defeating candidates from the Democratic Party and the Independent Citizens Movement, and some other independent candidates. See this story. Thanks to Michael for this news.
The U.S. Virgin Islands has three ballot-qualified parties: Democratic, Republican, and Independent Citizens Movement.
This Reuters article details several methods that the government of Venezuela may use, to keep the most popular opposition candidates off the ballot in the 2018 presidential election. Thanks to Eric Garris for the link.
