On May 12, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed HB 2181, the bill that lowers the number of signatures for newly-qualifying parties. She signed it only one day after it was presented to her. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for this news.
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Conservatives in New Hampshire are making plans to hold a caucus on October 17, to which all registered New Hampshire Republicans and independents are invited. The specific location in New Hampshire will be chosen by the end of May. The hosts will have a list of the New Hampshire voter registered voters. The caucus will then allow all attendees to choose their favorite Republican presidential candidate. The voting will be in multiple stages, using the principles of ranked-choice voting. After the first ballot, the two presidential candidates who poll the fewest votes will be dropped. Successive voting rounds will continue to eliminate candidates.
The group hopes to use this event to give the winning candidate a chance to then present himself or herself as the choice of conservatives, in preparation for the January 2016 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary. The organizers realize the winner of their caucus might not be a conservative, but they are willing to run the risk. This project uses the name “The 603 Alliance.” The basis for the name is that New Hampshire’s area code is 603.
A Kansas legislative conference committee has come to an agreement on HB 2104, so the bill is likely to pass. It abolishes the presidential primary, and makes it more difficult for candidates to withdraw.
On April 6, some Republican voters in Tucson, Arizona, filed a federal lawsuit against that city’s hybrid system for choosing city councilmembers. Public Integrity Alliance Inc. v Tucson, 4:15cv-138. A hearing was held on Friday, May 8, and a decision is expected any day now.
Tucson, since 1929, holds partisan primaries for city council in odd years, within each ward. Candidates file based on which ward they live in, and the primary chooses a party nominee within each ward, for each party. But in the general election, candidates for each ward seat run at-large against each other. The plaintiffs point out that frequently, the general election produces winners who did not win in their own ward. The lawsuit argues that this violates the Fourteenth Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court’s “one person, one vote” precedents.
Tucson is believed to be the only jurisdiction in the United States which uses a partisan hybrid system. The case is being expedited because the primary is in August 2015. Tucson has six wards, and city councilmembers have four-year terms. Three wards are voting in 2015.
The national Green Party has issued this press release, which says the party has started its petition to obtain party status in Missouri. The name of the party in Missouri is the Progressive Party. The Green presidential candidate has not been on the ballot in Missouri since 2000.
The press release also says the party will start a president-only petition in Arkansas later this month. It says there are 8 other states in which the party hopes to qualify during 2015. Currently it is on for President already in 21 jurisdictions.