Alaska Representative Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage) has introduced HB 13, to establish a top-two primary system for all partisan office except President. Like the Washington state version, but unlike the California version, write-ins would be permitted in November. Here is the text of the bill. Representative Gruenberg introduced the idea in the previous session of the legislature, but it did not advance.
Massachusetts State Representative Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) has introduced two bills to ease ballot access. One lowers the number of signatures for candidates to get on the ballot (both primary ballots and the general election ballot). Another eases the definition of “political party.” The details of these bills are not yet known.
Three Colorado legislators have introduced HB 1067, which says that if a qualified major party has no contested primaries, then no primary ballots should be printed up for that party.
The reason for this bill is that the Constitution Party probably won’t have any contested primaries in 2014, and if the bill passes, election administrators will save money. The Constitution Party polled over 10% of the vote for Governor in 2010, which meant that it was a major party for 2012 and 2014 and was expected to nominate all its candidates by primary. Smaller qualified parties in Colorado typically nominate by convention, although even qualified minor parties do have primaries when two candidates for the same office show substantial support at the nominating convention.
The bill sponsors are Representatives Carole Murray (R-Castle Rock) and Jeanne Labuda (D-Denver), and Senator Ellen Roberts (R-Durango). As far as is known, the Constitution Party supports this bill.
Virginia Delegate Robert Brink (D-Arlington) has introduced HB 1898, which repeals the ban on out-of-state petition circulators. That law has already been held unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court, but the state is appealing.
Virginia Delegate Joseph Morrissey (D-Henrico) has introduced HB 2213, which lowers the number of signatures for all presidential candidates (both presidential primary candidates, and candidates petitioning for the general election) from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures. The bill also lowers the number of signatures for candidates running for a statewide office in a party primary from 10,000 to 5,000. Unfortunately, the bill does not alter the law that requires non-presidential statewide independent and minor party candidates to obtain 10,000 signatures.
HB 2213 also sets forth procedures for a candidate to challenge a determination by a Board of Elections that the petition lacks enough valid signatures. Currently, when a Board of Elections says a petition doesn’t have enough valid signature, there is no administrative review process, and the candidate’s only recourse is to file a lawsuit. Last year a federal court in Virginia put an independent candidate on the ballot after finding that she did have enough valid signatures. The court also rebuked the state for not having any administrative review process.
Two Indiana State Representatives, Bob Cherry (R-Greenfield) and Richard Hamm (R-Richmond) have introduced HB 1112. Indiana currently allows write-ins in general elections. The bill would provide that only self-described independent candidates would be permitted to file as write-in candidates. Each declared write-in candidate would need to affirm that he or she is “not affiliated with any party.” Here is the text of the bill.
The bill, if enacted, would violate the U.S. District Court decision Paul v State of Indiana Election Board, 743 F Supp 616 (1990), which struck down Indiana’s old write-in ban, on the basis that the ban violated the rights of voters. The bill would also violate the 14th amendment equal protection clause. The lawsuit that struck down Indiana’s ban on write-ins was filed by Ron Paul, when he was the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 1988. Indiana was one of only four states in which Paul failed to get on the ballot.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Hawaii’s ban on write-ins in Burdick v Takushi in 1992, the decision says that write-ins are not needed in Hawaii because anyone can get on either the primary ballot or the general election ballot with 25 signatures, as late as July. That decision would not necessarily relate to Indiana, which has such strict ballot access for minor party and independent candidates that no statewide petition has succeeded in Indiana since 2000.
