On February 19, the Wyoming Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee passed HB 173. It had already passed the house. It increases the petition requirement for statewide independents from 2% to 3% of the last vote for U.S. House. It increases the petition for independent legislative candidates from 2% to 5%. It also moves the petition deadline from August to June.

Wyoming already has the most difficult petition requirement for presidential candidates running outside the two major parties, when the states are compared on a percentage basis.

The vote was 4-1. The only “no” vote was from the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Cale Case.

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee has introduced HB 259. It says that any person who spends any amount of money whatsoever for a message advocating the election or defeat of any candidate, or any ballot measure, must identify the person responsible for the mssage. Furthermore, the political party of the person responsible for the message must be disclosed.

The bill covers newspapers, magazines, websites, text messages, yard signs, bumper stickers, pamphlets, display cards, posters, and buttons.
Here is the text.

The bill appears to be unconstitutional under the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision McIntyre v Ohio Election Commission.

On February 14, the North Dakota House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee defeated HB 1287, which would have set up voter registration. North Dakota is the only state without voter registration. The Secretary of State had opposed the bill, saying it is expensive, bad for voters, and unnecessary. When people vote in North Dakota, they simply show ID that contains their address.