Norman Leahy and Paul Goldman have this op-ed in the Washington Post, criticizing the exclusion of Joseph Morrissey from the Democratic primary ballot this year for State Senate. The op-ed makes it clear that he is being kept off the ballot under the theory that he doesn’t have enough valid signatures, when he really does have enough valid signatures.

Colorado Representative Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City) has introduced HB 1354. Currently, Colorado lets independents vote in party primaries if the independent joins one of the parties on primary day. The bill would allow independent voters to vote in major party primaries without joining any party.

The bill provides that a special primary ballot, containing the names of all primary candidates, would be prepared just for independent voters. An independent voter choosing that ballot could only vote for one candidate per office, but would be free to choose a Democrat for one office or a Republican for another office.

Major parties that object to counting such ballots would be permitted to give up their primary entirely and nominate by convention. The bill would not generally affect small qualified parties, because they almost always nominate by convention. Here is a copy of HB 1354.

On April 21, the California Senate Elections Committee passed SB 163, which provides that in statewide elections, all voters will automatically receive a ballot in the postal mail. The bill would not affect non-statewide elections that are not held simultaneously with statewide elections. Polling places would continue to be open.

States that now send a ballot to all registered voters by postal mail are Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.