The United Independent Party, which exists only in Massachusetts, is attempting to qualify for party status. See here for the party’s web page, which asks readers to change their voter registration to join the party. If it can persuade 1% of the registered voters to join the party, it will be a qualified party.

The group is running Evan Falchuk for Governor in 2014. He is vice-president of Best Doctors, Inc., a company that helps companies deal with health insurance and also helps individuals to obtain second opinions for health problem diagnoses. If the party is unable to qualify by registration, Falchuk can get on the November 2014 with the party label by submitting 10,000 valid signatures next year.

Ever since 1991, it has been theoretically possible for a group to attain party status by persuading 1% of the voters to register into the party, but no group has ever successfully used this method.

On May 13, two members of the U.S. House introduced a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing all adult citizens the right to vote. The sponsors are Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin). The bill number hasn’t been assigned yet.

The proposed amendment reads, “Section 1. Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides. Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.”

If this were enacted, ex-felons and felons in all states were gain the franchise. It is not clear whether the amendment, if enacted, could be used to strike down restrictive ballot access laws for candidates. The U.S. Supreme Court has said in the past, “The right to vote includes the right of choice for whom to vote.” Certainly a voter in Oklahoma, a state that has prevented its voters from voting for anyone for President other than the Democratic and Republican nominees in each of the last three presidential general elections, would have a strong case against the Oklahoma ballot access laws. Thanks to Rick Hasen for news about the proposed amendment.

The Colorado legislature adjourned on May 8. The session did not pass HB 1067, which would have provided that if a party has no primary contests, no primary ballots should be printed for that party. The Constitution Party, which is entitled to its own primary, will now have primary ballots for itself in 2014, even if there are no races with more than a single Constitution Party candidate.