California holds a special election on May 21 to fill the vacant State Senate seat, 16th district, in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Five candidates will appear on the ballot: three Democrats, one Republican, and one member of the Peace & Freedom Party. The PFP candidate is Mohammad Arif. He is the first person, other than registered Democrats or Republicans, to appear on the ballot for any California special partisan election this year. This election will be the third special State Senate in California so far this year.

On March 27, the Oklahoma House Rules Committee passed SB 309, which says that if a presidential elector votes in December for someone other than the expected presidential and vice-presidential candidates, he or she is deemed to have automatically resigned. The bill had passed the Senate unanimously on March 14.

On April 9, four North Carolina Representatives will introduce a bill to lower the number of signatures for newly-qualifying parties and independent candidates, and to provide for a later deadline. One of the sponsors is the chair of the House Committee that handles election law bills. A press conference about the bill will be held at the Capitol on April 9. Thanks to Kevin Hayes for this news.