On April 21, the Nevada Senate passed SB 499 unanimously. It moves the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties from April to June, and moves the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from February to June.
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On April 21, the California Senate Elections Committee passed SB 163, which provides that in statewide elections, all voters will automatically receive a ballot in the postal mail. The bill would not affect non-statewide elections that are not held simultaneously with statewide elections. Polling places would continue to be open.
States that now send a ballot to all registered voters by postal mail are Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.
On the afternoon of April 22, the Oklahoma Senate passed HB 2181. As amended earlier in the Senate Rules Committee, it lowers the petition for a newly-qualifying party from 5% of the last vote cast, to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote.
The bill already passed the House at 1%. Now it goes back to the House, which is expected to approve the Senate version of the bill. Assuming the bill is signed into law, the number of signatures in 2016 for a newly-qualifying party will fall from 41,242 valid signatures to 24,745. The number of signatures in 2018 would also be 24,745. In 2014 the requirement had been 66,744.
The vote on the Senate floor was 37-4. Thanks to Wes Benedict for this news. The four Senators who voted “No” are: Mark Allen (R-Spiro), Larry Boggs (R-Wilburton), Ron Sharp (R-Shawnee), and Wayne Shaw (R-Grove).
The Alabama Constitution says that persons convicted of crimes of “moral turpitude” lose the right to vote, but the Constitution does not define “moral turpitude”. Each county has imposed its own definition in the past. On April 21 the Alabama House passed HB 344, which lists 38 types of felonies that disqualify a person from voting. Here is a copy of the bill.
On April 22, the North Carolina House Elections Committee passed HB 457, which moves the presidential primary from February to March. The bill has no impact on the primary for other office, which would continue to be in May. Later the same day, the bill passed the House on a voice vote.