On February 20, the Arizona State Senate passed HB 2196, so the bill is now through the legislature and on its way to the Governor. The bill repeals the 2013 omnibus election law bill. One of the provisions of that 2013 law made it extremely difficult for minor party members to get on their own party’s primary ballot, and literally impossible for minor parties to nominate candidates in their own primary by write-in vote. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
According to this story, two candidates for County Commission in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, were denied spots on the Republican primary ballot because Republican Party officials believed they were too friendly with certain Democrats. Read the entire story, including parts near the end. The story also says the party cashed their filing fee checks and, at least at the point the story was written, has not issued a refund.
Both candidates now say they will run as independent candidates.
Brian Kemp, the Secretary of State of Georgia, and a Republican, wants as many southern states as possible to hold their presidential primaries in early March in 2016. See this report from Frontloading HQ.
Two California Democratic State Senators, both of them members of the Senate Elections Committee and both running for Secretary of State this year, say they are concerned about ballot access problems for minor parties. See this story. They seem particularly interested in the problem that the number of signatures for minor parties to get on the primary ballot, in lieu of the filing fee, increased wildly in 2012, due to implementation of the top-two system.
California Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-Chula Vista) has introduced AB 1873, to provide that counties and other local governments could use all-postal balloting for special elections if they wish, although in addition to the mail-ballots, they would also need to provide centers for people to use who don’t wish to vote by mail. But there would be no general opening of neighborhood polling places. Thanks to Rob Richie for this news.
