The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws will hear H 652 on Wednesday, May 15, at 2 p.m. The bill says each U.S. House district should elect its own presidential elector.
On May 13, the Maine Joint Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee defeated LD 1422, a bill that would have established ranked-choice voting for congressional and state office, and also established a presidential primary. This was a peculiar bill, because those are two entirely different subjects wrapped up in the same bill. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for this news.
On the evening of May 14, the North Carolina House passed HB 794 by a vote of 109-5. The bill requires the legislature to appoint a committee composed of state legislators who will study ballot access after the 2013 sitting is over. The committee will take public testimony and prepare a report, and the 2014 half of this current session will then address the issue. UPDATE: here is a news story that mentions this outcome.
The United Independent Party, which exists only in Massachusetts, is attempting to qualify for party status. See here for the party’s web page, which asks readers to change their voter registration to join the party. If it can persuade 1% of the registered voters to join the party, it will be a qualified party.
The group is running Evan Falchuk for Governor in 2014. He is vice-president of Best Doctors, Inc., a company that helps companies deal with health insurance and also helps individuals to obtain second opinions for health problem diagnoses. If the party is unable to qualify by registration, Falchuk can get on the November 2014 with the party label by submitting 10,000 valid signatures next year.
Ever since 1991, it has been theoretically possible for a group to attain party status by persuading 1% of the voters to register into the party, but no group has ever successfully used this method.
On May 13, the North Carolina Green Party, and the North Carolina Constitution Party, filed this opening brief in the 4th circuit. The case challenges the mid-May petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties. The case is Pisano v Bartlett, 13-1368.
