On January 27, a subcommittee of the Virginia House Privileges and Elections Committee defeated HB 31. That bill would have altered voter registration forms to ask applicants to choose a party, or independent status.
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On January 24, a 3-judge U.S. District Court heard arguments in Arizona State Legislature v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 2:12cv-1211. Arizona U.S. House district boundaries are drawn by an independent commission. The legislature filed the lawsuit to regain its old ability to draw the district lines. The legislature argues that Article One, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution says that only state legislature can write election laws concerning congressional elections. See this article about the hearing.
On January 24, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued a one-line order, saying that although the legality of the state’s U.S. House and state legislative districts is still under review, the existing districts will be in effect for 2014. See this story.
According to this story, the scheduled hearing in the Arizona House Judiciary Committee on HB 2196 was postponed. HB 2196 is the bill to repeal the 2013 omnibus election law bill. That 2013 bill made many election law changes that are hostile both to minor parties, and to Democrats, and if the legislature doesn’t repeal it, the voters will vote on it in November 2014.
Interesting election law bills that have already been defeated in the Virginia legislature this year are:
1. SB 507, which forces all qualified parties to nominate by primary, lost in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee on January 21. Current law lets them choose whether to nominate by primary or convention.
2. SB 474, which deletes the ability of incumbents to dictate to their own party how that party nominates in that incumbent’s race for re-election (either convention or primary), lost in the same committee on January 21.
3. HB 645, which puts party labels on the general election ballot for partisan county office, lost in the House Privileges Committee on January 24.
Two bills to ask applicants on a voter registration form to choose a party, or independent status, have not moved, so are likely to fail. They are HB 31 and HB 55.
A bill that seem likely to pass is HB 105, which says that write-ins (for office other than President) will no longer be counted unless it appears the write-in candidate might have won. That bill passed the House on January 22, by 83-14. Also likely to pass is SB 319, which moves the non-presidential primary from the second Tuesday in June to the third Tuesday in June.