On May 21-22, the Missouri Republican Party held its state convention. The body endorsed the idea that the Republican Party should seek a closed primary for itself. See this story.
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On May 23, filing for the Washington state August 2016 primary closed. Here is a list of candidates. Thanks to Kelly Haughton for the link.
On May 23, Duf Sundheim, speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, predicted that the California legislature will put a repeal of the top-two system on the California ballot in 2018. The top-two system is embedded in the state Constitution, so the legislature cannot repeal it, but can only put a repeal on the ballot for the voters to decide.
Sundheim is a past California Republican Party state chair, and a candidate for U.S. Senate this year. He says he still supports the top-two system. In response to the point that it bars minor party and independent candidates from the November ballot, he said they weren’t winning even when they were on the November ballot. Actually several dozen minor party and independent candidates get elected to state office in every general election, around the U.S. Also his point ignores the fact that voters want a free choice of candidates in the election itself, even if many of those choices are not likely to win.
On May 23, the California Senate passed SB 1288 by 23-12. All Democrats who voted, voted “yes.” All Republicans who voted, voted “no” except that one Republican voted for the bill. The bill lets all cities and counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own officers. Under current law, only charter cities and charter counties have that freedom. Most cities in California are not charter cities.
On May 23, the Ohio Libertarian Party asked the Sixth Circuit to put it back on the ballot. Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, 16-3537. The party was removed from the ballot in November 2014 because it did not poll 2% for Governor. It couldn’t poll 2% for Governor because its gubernatorial candidate was not on the ballot. He was not on the ballot because the Republican Party of Ohio, and the John Kasich re-election campaign, had challenged his primary ballot status.
The 39-page brief argues that the Republican Party of Ohio was a state actor when it became involved in the challenge. The brief depends on U.S. Supreme Court precedents that say political parties are state actors when they influence who appears on a ballot, either primary or general.