Kate Brown, Oregon Secretary of State, has ruled that the Independent Party of Oregon is now entitled to a government-administered primary. But, in theory, the party could lose that status if it doesn’t maintain its current 5% registration level. See this story.
The story also says that the Independent Party will let independent voters vote in its primary. Neither the Democratic nor the Republican Parties of Oregon now let independents vote in their primaries.
New Mexico Representative Nate Gentry (R-Bernalillo) has introduced HB 346. It would move the primary for president and all other office from June to March. Because New Mexico links petition deadlines for independent candidates and newly-qualifying parties to the primary date, the bill would automatically move those deadlines from late June to mid-April. Two years ago, a U.S. District Court ruled in Constitution Party v Duran that the old April deadline for newly-qualifying parties is unconstitutionally early. Chances are, the bill’s sponsor hasn’t thought about this problem. Thanks to Frontloading HQ and Josh Putnam for this news.
Ken Broder has this commentary at All Gov about the release of the latest research on California’s top-two system, found in the California Journal of Politics & Policy, Volume 7, issue 1.
UPDATE: also see this article by William Bigelow, on Breitbart, about the report.
A New Mexico state trial court will hear Crum v Duran on Tuesday morning, February 10. This is the case in which a New Mexico independent voter argues that the state constitution protects his right to choose either a Democratic primary ballot, or a Republican primary ballot. New Mexico has closed primaries and neither major party lets independents vote in its primaries, although each major party is free to do so.
The New Mexico Constitution says, “Every person who is a qualified elector pursuant to the constitution and laws of the U.S. and a citizen thereof shall be qualified to vote in all elections in New Mexico, subject to residency and registration requirements.” The state argues that a primary election is not an “election”. The New Mexico Republican Party intervened and argues that even if the New Mexico Constitution does require that parties let independents vote in its primaries, in that case the New Mexico Constitution would violate the U.S. Constitution. Here is an article about the lawsuit. The hearing is in Albuquerque; the case number is d202-cv-2014-03730. It had been filed on June 3, 2014.
Indiana State Senator Michael Delph (R-Westfield) has introduced SB 201, to abolish the straight-ticket device. He introduced a similar bill in 2013 and also 2014, but it didn’t pass either of those years. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
