Indiana State Senator Mike Delph (R-Carmel) has introduced SB 51. It eliminates the straight-ticket device.
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On January 18, a subcommittee of the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee passed SB 690 by 4-2. The bill lowers the number of signatures for presidential candidates (both in presidential primaries and in the general election) from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures. Now it goes to the full committee.
The full committee on the same day defeated SB 964, which would have changed the poll-closing hour from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. See this story. Thanks to Shelley Tamres for the news about SB 690. UPDATE: see this story about the bill, which says that Democratic Senator J. Chapman Petersen voted against the ballot access bill because the ballot would be too cluttered if it passes. Actually, before 1970, Virginia only required 1,000 signatures for presidential candidates in the general election, and Virginia has never had a general election ballot with more than seven presidential candidates.
On January 18, the California State Court of Appeals released a 14-page opinion, finding that AB 1499, which was signed into law in 2012, was improperly permitted to go into effect immediately. AB 1499 changed the order in which statewide ballot measures appear on the ballot. Because AB 1499 went into effect immediately, it caused the November 2012 ballot to be different than it would otherwise have been. The bill caused the Governor’s initiative to raise taxes to be listed first among all the statewide measures, and put a competing tax increase measure near the bottom of the list of statewide ballot questions.
The California Constitution says bills don’t take effect immediately unless they pass with a two-thirds majority in each house, and AB 1499 did not obtain such support in the legislature. But the Constitution makes an exception for budget bills. AB 1499, when passed, made an appropriation of $1,000. But the decision says that AB 1499 (in the form in which it passed) did not exist when the state budget passed, so AB 1499 cannot be considered part of the budget. The decision has no effect on the 2012 election, and only influences future events. The decision is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v Bowen, C071506. Here is a news story about the decision.
Two Oregon State Representatives, Andy Olson (R-Albany) and Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver), have introduced HB 2405. It would require presidential candidates to submit a long form birth certificate that must contain the name of the hospital, the physician who delivered the baby, and the names of witnesses. It also requires presidential candidates to submit a declaration telling where he or she had lived for each of the last fourteen years.
The bill doesn’t seem to acknowledge the possibility that a presidential candidate might not have been born in a hospital, or that his or her birth certificate doesn’t exist.
If the bill were to pass (which seems unlikely) the chief consequence would probably be that candidates might be kept off the ballot for errors in filing the required paperwork.
Arizona Representative Phil Lovas (R-Peoria) has introduced HB 2017, to hold the Arizona presidential primary on the same day that the major parties in Iowa hold their presidential caucuses. The bill provides that in case the Iowa caucuses are no longer the earliest state process for choosing delegates to the major party national conventions, then the Arizona Secretary of State should pick a date for the Arizona primary.