Texas Senate Bill 1209 would move the runoff primary from the 4th Tuesday in May to the 2nd Tuesday in May. If it passes, it would automatically move the independent candidate petition deadline from June 25 to June 11. On May 22 it passed the House Elections Committee. It had already passed the Senate. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
Nevada Assembly Bill 534 will not pass. Among other things, it would have imposed a February deadline for declaration of candidacy on independent candidates. The bill is still in committee in the Assembly, and no hearing has been set for it, so it will miss legislature deadlines.
On May 23, the Colorado Secretary of State filed this brief in Colorado Republican Party v Griswold, 1:23cv-1948. The brief defends the state law, which requires parties that nominate by primary to let independent voters participate.
The Seguin Gazette, a Texas newspaper, has this op-ed by Nolan Schmidt, criticizing the State House for narrowly defeating a bill to treat all parties equally. Currently when a Democrat or a Republican candidate pays a filing fee, the money goes to that candidate’s party. But when a Libertarian or a Green candidate pays the same filing fee, the government gets the money.
This newspaper story describes the Arkansas Libertarian Party’s eighth petition in a row for party status. The petition is ongoing and is not due until the spring of 2026, but it already has over 3,000 signatures. The requirement is 10,000.
