The Iowa legislature adjourned June 12. Bills to abolish the straight ticket device, to require a runoff primary in certain cases, to allow voters to register on-line, to require photo ID for voters at the polls, to eliminate same-day registration, to provide for a permanent list of absentee voters, all failed to pass. Virtually the only election law bill that passed is SF 415, which lets the write-in tally be completed the day after the election, instead of on election night. Thanks to Jim Riley and Timothy Reineke for help understanding SF 415.

On June 5, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan signed HB 503. It changes the order of candidate names on presidential primary ballots. The old law listed them in alphabetical order. The new law rotates the names, so that each candidate has an equal chance to appear on the top line. Rotation had already been used for candidates for all other office.

New Hampshire generally has the most candidates on presidential primary ballots of any state. In 2012 there were 30 names on the Republican ballot and 14 on the Democratic ballot. Thanks to Darryl Perry for the news about HB 503.

According to this story, some leaders of the Utah Republican Party still don’t accept the 2014 law that lets people run in Republican primaries (if they submit a petition), even though they didn’t show substantial support at a party meeting. The party will decide in August on whether to change the bylaws to say that someone who tries to run in a Republican primary without having shown support at a party meeting is, by definition, not a member of the party.