On February 18, the Michigan House passed SB 44, after amending it to set the presidential primary date on the 2nd Tuesday of March instead of the 3rd Tuesday. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.
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Last year, the Utah legislature passed a bill that requires all qualified parties to alter their nomination process. The Republican Party does not like the new law and had filed a federal lawsuit against the new system on December 1, 2014. Utah Republican Party v Herbert, 2:14cv-876.
Last month, the Utah Constitution Party intervened in the lawsuit on the side of the Republican Party. The old law, practically speaking, permits the Constitution Party to nominate by convention. The new law would permit anyone, even someone who is not a member of the party, to submit a primary petition signed by 2% of the party’s members. If that petition succeeds, the party would be forced to nominate by primary for that particular office. The Constitution Party’s amended complaint explains how that would potentially injure the party.
On February 17, the Montana Senate passed SB 169 by a vote of 48-2. It deals with vacancies in U.S. Senate seats. If there is a U.S. Senate vacancy, there would be a special election, in most cases. Before the special election, the Governor could appoint someone to serve until the special election is held. The gubernatorial appointee must be of the same party as the party that won that same seat in the last regular election. Furthermore, the Governor would be required to appoint one of three individuals suggested by that party’s executive committee. Thanks to Mike Fellows for this news.
Arkansas State Senator Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch) has introduced SB 389. It moves the presidential primary from late May to early March. The bill provides that only the presidential primary would be in March; the primary for other office would continue to be in May. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.
Texas Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) has introduced HB 1444. It deals with the straight-ticket device. It says that in counties with a population of over 1,000,000, the straight-ticket device would not encompass partisan candidates for judicial office and county executive office.
This bill seems to be a compromise between the idea of eliminating the straight-ticket device, and keeping it. Another bill, HB 1288, would simply eliminate the device. Texas elects its judges in partisan races, and although many Republicans in the legislature seem to want to keep the device, they are bothered by the fact that the device makes it difficult for Republican judges to be elected or re-elected in Dallas County, because Dallas County has become a stronghold for the Democratic Party (in November 2012, Dallas County cast 405,571 votes for President Obama and 295,813 votes for Mitt Romney).
It seems that if the bill were enacted, it might be found to violate Bush v Gore, since it would apply to some counties and not others. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.