Illinois State Senator Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) has introduced SB 63, which lowers the number of signatures for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, to the same number of signatures that are needed for a major party member to get on a primary ballot. In the case of statewide office, that would lower the general election petition from 25,000 signatures to 5,000. Here is the bill.
Florida representative Joe Geller (D-Broward County) has introduced HB 311, which would provide that Florida join the National Popular Vote Plan pact. See this story.
On January 20, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the fact that Gary Johnson got more than 3% of the vote in Ohio in November 2016 does not create a new ballot-qualified party.
As noted earlier, in December 2015 the Michigan legislature repealed the straight-ticket device, but in 2016 a U.S. District Court granted an injunction forcing the state to keep the device in place for the November 2016 election. The issue of whether the U.S. Constitution requires Michigan to have a straight-ticket device is not settled yet.
On January 19, the U.S. District Court granted permission for the supporters of the straight-ticket device to amend their complaint so as to allege that when the legislature repealed the straight-ticket device, that action was motivated with the intent to harm black voters. It appears that the supporters of the straight-ticket device feel their case, as outlined in their earlier complaint, needs to be strengthened, and the way to strengthen the case is to show that the legislature acted with discriminatory intent. The state government defendants had argued against permitting the complaint to be amended, but Judge Gershwin Drain is permitting the amended complaint. However, he denied permission for the opponents to also amend their complaint to include a charge that the repeal of the device violates the First Amendment.
The Oklahoma bills to improve ballot access that were introduced in the State Senate a few days ago are also now introduced in the House. Representative Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City) introduced the same bills that Senator David Holt had introduced in the Senate. HB 1563 eases the presidential independent petition, and the petition for the presidential nominee of an unqualified party, to 5,000 signatures or a fee of $5,000. HB 1565 makes it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified. Thanks to E. Zachary Knight for this news.
