On January 30, the Tennessee Senate passed SB 6002. See section six of the bill, which makes it a felony for “any official who, in their capacity as a member of the governing body of a local government, votes in the affirmative to adopt a sanctuary policy is in violation of this section.”
The House is considering an identical bill, HB 6001.
The lawsuit against the New York May petition deadline for independent candidates is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court had asked New York to respond by February 18. But the state has asked for more time, and the state’s response is now due March 20. Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 24-684.
For many decades, North Dakota has been the only state without voter registration. Now five legislators have introduced HB 1287, to create voter registration in the state. Here is the text. There is no provision in the bill for people to choose a party on the registration form.
Idaho Representative Bruce Skaug has introduced two bills to weaken the initiative process. HB 2 would require initiatives to receive 60% of the popular vote in order to pass. HB 85 would give the Governor power to veto initiatives after they had been passed by the public, unless the popular vote in favor was at least 66.67%.
Skaug is in his second term. He is a Republican from Nampa.
A proposed constitutional amendment has received affirmative votes in both houses of the Virginia legislature. It would delete the lifetime ban on registering to vote for persons who had been convicted of a felony but who had been released. HJR 2 passed the House on January 14, and SJ248 passed the Senate on January 21.
In Virginia, proposed constitutional amendments must pass two legislative sessions in a row, so it will be up again in 2026. If it passes the legislature again, the voters would vote on the idea in November 2026.
