On March 6, the South Dakota Senate Local Government Committee passed HB 1035, which makes it illegal to pay circulators of a new party petition on a per-signature basis. The bill had already passed the House.
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On March 6, the Utah Senate Government Operations & Political Subdivisions Committee defeated HB 349 by 3-3. On a tie, bills do not advance. The bill would have established instant runoff voting in Utah primaries and general elections, for virtually all office. It had passed the House last week.
The bill would not have taken effect until 2019 anyway. Proponents are optimistic that the bill will pass next year.
The committee has six Republicans and two Democrats. Both Democrats voted for the bill. One of the Republicans voted for the bill; three voted against; and two did not vote. The Republican who voted for the bill is Senator Don Ipson of St. George. The three Republicans who voted against the bill are Margaret Dayton, David Hinkins, and Daniel Thatcher. Senator Dayton is the author of the bill that passed earlier this year moving the petition deadline for new parties from February of election years to November of the year before the election.
Bill has been introduced in both houses of the New York legislature to delete residency requirements for petitioners, except that they still require petitions to be residents of New York state. The bills are S218, by Senator Kathleen Marchione (R-Halfmoon); and A567, by Assemblymember Thomas J. Abinanti (D-Greenburgh). Both bills would add a new restriction, providing that petitioners can only circulate for one candidate for any particular office.
The Libertarian Party is currently suing against the requirement that general election petitioners be residents of New York state. That case is Merced v Spano, e.d., 1:16cv-3054. Discovery is underway in that lawsuit.
New York State Senator Fred Akshar has introduced S 2792, to delete party logos from general election ballots. It has a hearing on Tuesday, March 7, in the Senate Elections Committee. Current New York ballot design is very confusing, and many petitioning candidates are in such obscure corners of the ballot that they cannot be found by some voters. Eliminating the requirement that logos be printed on the ballot is a step toward reforming New York ballot design.
The New Mexico National Popular Vote bill, which has already passed the State Senate, has a hearing in the House State Government, Indian and Veterans Affairs Committee on Tuesday, March 7. Thanks to Rick Lass for this news.