Ohio Representative Mike Dovilla (R-Berea) has introduced HB 153, to move the primary for president and all other office, in presidential years, from the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, to the second Tuesday. If the bill passed, the Ohio 2016 primary for president and all office would move from March 8 to March 15.

If the bill were enacted, it would have no effect on the petition deadline for minor parties. But it would ease the non-presidential independent candidate petition deadline by one week. Thanks to Josh Putnam for the news about the bill.

The Bulletin, daily newspaper for Bend, Oregon, has this editorial about HB 3500. Oregon has already switched to a system of automatic registration for individuals with a drivers license or a state ID card. HB 3500 provided that those new voters would automatically receive in the postal mail a primary ballot for the Republican, Democratic, and Independent Parties. That way, these new voters would easily choose to affiliate with one of those three parties, the only three parties in Oregon entitled to a primary (the other qualified parties nominate by convention).

The editorial says HB 3500 is not fair to the qualified parties that nominate by convention. The bill has been converted into a proposal to study this issue.

On Sunday, April 12, C-SPAN broadcast a live 40-minute interview with Nicholas Sarwark, national chair of the Libertarian Party. Most of the session involved questions phoned him for Sarwark from the live audience. Sarwark appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.