On June 22, the New Jersey Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 4574. It provides for early voting, online voter registration, and automatic registration for voters who obtain a state ID card or drivers license. The bill was introduced June 18. The committee deleted a part of the bill providing for election day registration.
The companion bill in the Senate, SB 3040, hasn’t advanced yet.
On June 22, the Maine House defeated LD 742, a bill to ask the voters if they wish to make it more difficult for statewide initiatives to get on the ballot. See this story. The bill would have imposed a distribution requirement on statewide initiatives. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.
Florida’s Secretary of State keeps a list of initiative petitions that is updated frequently. According to the latest list, the initiative for a top-two system is no longer active.
The proponents raised $75,500 during March and April 2015, but only $5,000 during May. See this campaign finance report. Click on the “campaign finance activity” button. Thanks to Rich Moroney for the news.
The New York Times has this article by Professor Cliff Zukin, an expert on polling. His article says that polling accuracy is in steep decline. His observations are relevant to debate sponsors, who frequently only invite candidates who make a certain showing in polls. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
The Gothamist here reports that Doug A. Kellner, co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections and a Democrat, now believes that the New York election law known as Wilson-Pakula does not pertain to presidential primaries. The Wilson-Pakula law says non-members may not run in primaries for other types of office unless party leaders let them run.
The Gothamist article mentions me, although that mention is not perfectly accurate. I did not say presidential primaries are controlled by federal law. They are controlled by state law. Here is a somewhat better story in Capital.
