April 27 is the deadline for Oklahoma bills that have passed the house of origin to also have passed the other house. Neither of the two bills that improve ballot access will be brought up in the House on April 27. Both bills had passed the Senate and all House committees with almost no opposition, but they can’t pass in 2017. Oklahoma has two-year legislative sessions, so both bills will be alive during 2018.

SB 145 eliminates mandatory petitions for independent presidential candidates and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties. SB 350 makes it easier for a party to remain on the ballot.

On the evening of April 24, Monday, the Texas House Elections Committee heard testimony on HB 3068, which improves ballot access for minor parties and independent candidates. Supporting the bill were representatives of America’s Party, the Green Party, and the Libertarian Party. The committee will vote some time later on whether to pass the bill. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.

On April 26, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Moore v Martin, 15-3558. The issue is the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates. The U.S. District Court had upheld that deadline. The Eighth Circuit says that more facts are needed to settle the case, and sends it back to the U.S. District Court.

The independent petition deadline had been in May, until 2013, when it was moved to March.

The state had argued that it needs a March petition deadline for independent candidates, because it must check initiative petitions later in the year and it must get the independent candidate petitions checked early so as to give itself lots of time to check initiative petitions. Initiative petitions are due in July. Therefore, on remand, the court is supposed to learn “What periods of time, between the former May 1 deadline for independent candidate petitions and the early July deadline for initiative petitions, were available for the state to process independent candidate petitions.” Also, the lower court must now establish “when independent candidate petitions were in fact processed in the past” and learn “the amount of time required to process independent candidate petitions” and “the feasibility of temporarily hiring additional election workers.”

If the facts show that the state can manage to check the independent petitions without the need for a March 1 deadline, then that March 1 deadline will be unconstitutional.

The decision is 2-1. The dissenting judge argued that it is already obvious that the state can check independent candidate petitions even without a March 1 deadline. The majority decision is by Judge Roger Wollman, a Reagan appointee, and is signed by Judge Duane Benton, a Bush Jr. appointee. The dissent is by Judge Lavenski Smith, a Bush Jr. appointee.