The Nebraska Senate Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, March 15. Among the bills to be heard are:
LB 34, which says a party can remain on the ballot, regardless of its votes, if it has at least 10,000 registered members; and LB 25, which would end the system under which each U.S. House district elects its own presidential elector.
On February 14, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Montana Secretary of State to respond to the Republican Party’s cert petition. The issue is whether the Republican Party has a freedom of association right to opt out from an open primary. 16-806. The court asked the state to respond by March 16.
As previously noted, on February 1, the Eleventh Circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court, that Georgia’s requirement of approximately 50,000 signatures for presidential independent and minor party petitions is too high. On February 22, the state asked the entire Eleventh Circuit to reconsider the decision. Green Party of Georgia v Kemp, 16-11689.
On February 22, the Arkansas Senate passed HB 1532. It had passed the House on February 16. It eases the deadline for a newly-qualifying party to nominate non-presidential candidates, from November of the year before the election, to May of the election year. Assuming the Governor signs it, it will moot the Libertarian Party ballot access lawsuit that is now pending in the Eighth Circuit. The party had won the case in U.S. District Court last year, but the state had appealed. But the appeal will have no purpose, when HB 1532 is signed.
On February 16, the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 1307, which moves the deadline for a qualified party to submit its presidential elector candidates from June to late August.
