On May 6, a bill to provide for a Colorado presidential primary was introduced in the Senate and that very day passed both committees. It is SB 216. Like the House Bill that has been pending for a while, it provides for a March presidential primary, starting in 2020. Unlike HB 1454, it provides that only party members could vote in their own party’s presidential primary.
The Colorado legislature adjourns Wednesday, May 11.
On April 26, the Minnesota Senate passed SF 2381. It is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, and it contains two ballot access improvements: (1) it deletes the wording on independent candidate petitions saying the signer doesn’t expect to vote in the upcoming primary; (2) it reduces the number of signatures needed for independent candidates in special elections.
This Washington Post story says that William Kristol met with Mitt Romney on May 5. Kristol is trying to recruit a Republican-leaning independent presidential candidate.
A Survey USA poll released May 2 for the California U.S. Senate race shows that two Democrats are likely to place first and second on June 7. The two Democrats included in the survey are Kamala Harris 29% and Loretta Sanchez 18%. The three Republicans included are Tom Del Beccaro 10%, Ron Unz 8%, Duf Sundheim 7%. The survey did not mention any of the other 29 candidates on the ballot, but 6% said they would vote for someone else. The undecided rate is 22%.
Early voting begins on Monday, May 9.
After the poll was released, Ted Cruz and Donald Kasich dropped out of the Republican race. This probably means that Republican voters will be less likely to turn out to vote in the primary. By contrast, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still fighting hard for votes in the remaining presidential primaries, including California, which probably means that the Democratic turnout will be high. This variation in likely turnout makes it even more likely that two Democrats will place first and second in June and therefore will be the only choices in November. The backers of the top-two system even removed write-in space from the November ballot for Congress and partisan state office, so November voters who don’t wish to vote for a Democrat will lose their ability to vote for someone they wish to vote for.
Last year the North Carolina legislature passed a law changing candidate-versus-candidate elections for State Supreme Court to retention elections. A retention election is one in which a justice whose term is up appears on the ballot with a “yes” or “no” next to his or her name.
A few months ago, a lower state court ruled that the new law violates the State Constitution. On May 7, the State Supreme Court issued an opinion in the same case. The court deadlocked 3-3 on whether to overturn the lower court ruling. When that happens, the lower court ruling survives, so now the state can’t hold a retention election for the one justice whose term is expiring. The case is Faires v State Board of Elections, 84A16. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
