The New York City Independence Party has issued recommendations for election law changes in New York state. See them here. The party recommends that the Wilson-Pakula Law be repealed for large political parties such as the Democratic and Republican Parties, but preserved for smaller qualified parties. The Wilson-Pakula law gives party county chairs the power to decide whether a non-member of a party may run in that party’s primary.

The New York City Independent Party also wants non-partisan elections for city office, and says non-partisan elections would reduce corruption. The document does not acknowledge that an objective study of corruption among big cities in the U.S. recently determined that Chicago is the most corrupt large city in the United States, and that Chicago has non-partisan elections for all city office. Thanks to Mike Drucker for the link.

Political scientist Richard J. Hardy wrote “The Paradoxes of Political Parties in American Constitutional Government” in 2011. Here is a link to his 27-page article. Even though it is not new, it is relevant today, especially since many individuals believe that political parties are not useful and that the U.S. would be better off if they didn’t exist. There are many books that make his points, but this article is much shorter than a book, and clear and convincing.

On April 24, the Montana Senate passed HB 120, which now goes to the Governor. This is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, and it includes two ballot access improvements: (1) moving the non-presidential independent deadline from March to May; (2) eliminating a restriction on who can be an independent presidential or vice-presidential candidate. Montana becomes the second state, after Virginia, in which a legislature has passed a bill in 2013 to improve ballot access for minor parties or independent candidates.

Bills to improve ballot access are pending in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.