On May 26, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a bill to require voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. See this story.
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On May 26, the Alabama Senate passed HB 425. It moves the primary for all office, in presidential years, to the second Tuesday in March. It also moves the petition deadlines for minor parties and non-presidential independent candidates to the second Tuesday in March. The bill is now through the legislature and before the Governor. It passed the Senate 21-11.
This year has seen an epidemic of legislatures passing bills that are clearly unconstitutional. In 1991 the 11th circuit struck down Alabama’s April petition deadline for minor parties in New Alliance Party of Alabama v Hand. At the time the petition was 1% of the last vote cast. Although this precedent was pointed out to several legislators, they seemed not to pay any attention. Now Alabama’s petition is 3% of the last vote cast (it was increased in 1995, effective in 1997).
On May 26, Americans Elect turned in its petition to become a party in 2012 in Michigan. The requirement is 32,261 signatures, and Americans Elect submitted 67,731 signatures. Assuming this petition is valid, it will be the first time a party petition in Michigan has succeeded since 2002, when the Libertarian Party submitted a petition.
On May 25, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed HB 2080, eliminating the presidential primary in 2012. All parties in Kansas will use caucuses or party meetings to choose national convention delegates. Thanks to Josh Putnam of Frontloading HQ for this news.
On May 25, a jury in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, acquitted a husband and wife of voting twice in 2010. See this story. They did submit absentee ballots before election day, but when they dropped by the polling place on election day, their names in the poll book did not show that they had voted absentee. So, believing their absentee votes had been lost or otherwise not counted, they voted at the polls. If they had been convicted, they faced being sentenced to prison.