Four bills have been introduced in the South Carolina legislature to switch the state from having open primaries, to either closed primaries or semi-closed primaries. The closed primary bills are H3310, S109, and S113. The bill for a semi-closed primary is H3396. All are pending in the Judiciary Committees of the house of introduction.
South Carolina has always had open primaries.
Since 2023, Ohio State Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner has been fighting an Ohio law passed in 2021 relating to party labels on the ballot. Her federal lawsuit, Brunner v LaRose, n.d., 4:23cv-2180, argues against putting party labels on the November ballot for candidates for Justice of the State Supreme Court, and for Judge of the State Appeals Courts.
Here is her latest brief, from November 2024. It points out that the state code of judicial ethics prevents her from campaigning about partisan matters, yet she is forced to have a party label on the ballot. By contrast, elections for trial level state courts do not have parrty labels on the ballot.
The state’s brief filed in response depends on procedural objections.
Twelve North Dakota legislators have introduced HB 1245, which repeals the ban on paying initiative circulators on a per-signature basis. Here is the text.
The Kansas Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs has introduced SB 6, which would ban ranked choice voting in the state. No jurisdiction in Kansas currently uses ranked choice voting. Here is the text.
On January 27, the Fourth Circuit heard Griffin v North Carolina State Board of Elections, 25-1018, over the disputed election from November 2024 for State Supreme Court Justice. The three judges were Paul Niemeyer, a Bush Sr. appointee; Marvin Quattlebaum, a Trump appointee; and Toby J. Heytens, a Biden appointee.
Here is a news story about the hearing.
Here is a link to the audio recording.
