On February 25, the Arizona House of Representatives passed HB 2608.  It makes it far more difficult for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her own party’s primary ballot.  Existing law makes the number of signatures 1% of a party’s registration.  The bill converts that to one-fourth of 1% of all the registered voters for statewide office, and one-half of 1% for U.S. House and legislature.

It is irrational to raise the number of signatures for primary ballot access, since no minor party primary ballot in Arizona has ever been crowded.  It is extraordinarily rare for a minor party primary ballot in Arizona to have more than a single candidate listed.

The bill passed on a party line vote.  Every Republican who voted on the bill voted “yes”.  Every Democrat who voted on the bill voted “No.”  Currently the only two ballot-qualified parties in Arizona, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, are the Libertarian and Green Party.

On Saturday, March 7, the New Mexico House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee defeated HB 346 on a tie vote. See this story. The bill would have moved the primary for president and all other office from June to March.

The bill would have provided much earlier petition deadlines for minor party and independent candidate petitions, because New Mexico ties the petition deadlines to the date of the primary. Thanks to Josh Putnam for the link.

On March 7, the Kentucky Republican Party kept the idea of using a caucus, instead of a presidential primary, alive, although the idea still hasn’t been approved. See this story.