On February 14, the Missouri House Elections Committee passed HB 1236, with no opposition. It now goes to the House Rules Committee. It removes the drafting error in the law on how minor parties get on the ballot.

The existing law does not require petitions to qualify a new party to list that party’s nominees, except due to an error when the law was passed in 1993, it accidentally says the party’s nominees for presidential elector must be on the petition, if the party expects to nominate a presidential candidate. HB 1236 removes the requirement that the candidates for presidential elector be on the petition. Therefore, it will make it possible for groups to petition for party status without worrying about whom they are going to choose later for presidential elector.

New Mexico is another state in which redistricting is tied up in court. New Mexico has cases pending in both state court and federal court, for the legislative district boundaries. See this story.

On February 13, U.S. District Court Judge Dora Irizarry asked the Chief Judge of the 2nd Circuit to appoint a 3-judge court which would have the authority to draw U.S. House district boundaries, and also state legislative district boundaries, for New York state. The case is Favors v Cuomo, 11-cv-5632, eastern district. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news. UPDATE: see this story.