On June 29, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed SB 450 by 5-2. Starting in 2018, the bill would let some counties send ballots in the postal mail to all registered voters. There would no longer be precinct polling places in those counties, but there would be vote centers for people who wish to vote at the polls, or to drop off their voted ballots other than by postal mail. Starting in 2020, the bill would be in effect for the entire state. The two Republicans on the committee voted against the bill. The bill has already passed the Senate.

Rhode Island does not require independent presidential candidates, or the presidential nominees of unqualified parties, to file petitions until September 9. However, groups that expect to petition for president must file a declaration of candidacy for at least one candidate for presidential elector by June 29, at 4 p.m. The filing is done with the Secretary of State, not the State Board of Elections.

So far, five groups have filed: Libertarian, Green, Constitution, American Delta Party, and Independent Voters United. The American Delta Party supports Rocky De La Fuente for President. Independent Voters United supports Lynn Kahn for President.

Oklahoma held primaries (for office other than President) on June 28. The Libertarian Party had a primary race for U.S. Senate. The tentative results: Robert T. Murphy 1,537; Dax Ewbank 1,073. The result was a surprise, since Murphy had been offered a job on the Gary Johnson presidential campaign, and so had asked voters to vote for Ewbank. But, Murphy has run for office many times during the last 40 years as a Libertarian, and when voters don’t know much about candidates, they are most likely to vote for a familiar name.