The Arkansas Secretary of State’s office says these are the registration totals for May 3, 2024:  Republican 131,647; Democratic 86,231; Libertarian 700; Green 104; other 1; independent 1,543,863.

Percentages are:  Republican 7.47%; Democratic 4.89%; Libertarian .04%; Green .01%; independent 87.59%.

Percentages in October 2023 were:  Republican 7.37%; Democratic 4.94%; Libertarian .04%; Green .01%; independent 87.64%.

The reason independents are such a huge share is that in Arkansas, how one registers has no practical effect.  Primaries are open and any voter can choose any party’s primary ballot.  But the registration form does ask for party affiliation.

On April 30, the Florida Secretary of State sent a letter to the state officers of the Natural Law Party, saying its application for qualified status has been approved.  However, as of Friday, May 3, the Secretary of State’s website still doesn’t include Natural Law as a qualified party.

On May 3, the Illinois House removed all the contents of SB 2412, a bill that originally concerned child welfare, and converted it into an election law bill.  It now eliminates the ability of a qualified party to nominate someone by party meeting if no one had won the party’s primary.

It also moves the petition deadline for presidential primary candidates from early January of the election year, to early December of the year before the election.  Illinois primaries for president and all other partisan office are in March of election years.

See this story, which says the bill is highly partisan and seems designed to eliminate the ability of the Republican Party to nominate for one particular state legislative seat this year. Assuming this bill becomes law, the Illinois Republican Party would have a strong case that the bill violates due process.  Thanks to Eliyahu Neiman for the link.