On April 16, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong signed HB 1297, which bans Approval Voting and ranked choice voting. Fargo has been using Approval Voting for four years, but now it can’t use that system any more.

A similar bill had been vetoed two years ago but the previous Governor.

Fifteen states, all with Republican-majority legislatures, have now banned ranked choice voting. The others are Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Ever since 2023, the Colorado Republican Party has been suing to regain the ability of the party to hold primaries in which only party members vote. Colorado law says independent voters may vote in the primary of their choice. Colorado Republican Party v Griswold, 1:23cv-1948. On April 8, the party filed this brief, asking for summary judgment.

On April 10, the U.S. House passed HR 22 by a vote of 220-208. It makes it more difficult to register to vote, by requiring new applicants to submit documents that prove citizenship. Here is the Text.

A similar bill in the Senate, S128, has made no headway so far.