New Hampshire Bills to Move Non-Presidential Primary to an Earlier Month Unlikely to Pass

Posted on by June 9, 2025
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On June 5, the New Hampshire House defeated SB 222 by 151-168.  It would have moved the non-presidential primary from September to June.

House bills to move that primary also have failed to pass.  Those bills are HB 481 and HB 408.

All three of these bills harm ballot access for minor party and independent candidates.  They all automatically move the declaration of candidacy from June to earlier months.  Forcing independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties to file declarations in the spring, before they have decided whom to run, would inhibit those candidacies.

It is somewhat surprising that these bills failed, because in 2021 the legislature had passed a bill moving the non-presidential primary to June.  But then-Governor Chris Sununu had vetoed it.  Sununu is no longer Governor.

 

Federal Election Commission Welcomes Democratic Party Intervention in U.S. Supreme Court in Party Spending Lawsuit

Posted on by June 8, 2025
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On June 6, the Federal Election Commission filed this in the U.S. Supreme Court in National Republican Senatorial Committee v FEC, 24-621.  The FEC says it supports the Democratic Party’s desire to intervene in the case, which is about the federal law that prohibits parties from spending much money in support of their own nominees if the party and the candidate are coordinating with each other.

Both the Republican Party and the FEC agree that the limits on such party spending violate the First Amendment.  But if the U.S. Supreme Court is to take the case, there needs to be some organization that will defend the federal limits.  The Democratic Party wants to defend the limits, so letting the Democrats into the case at this late point would facilitate that.

It is somewhat strange that the Democratic Party wants to defend a law that injures political parties.