South Dakota state courts must quickly decide whether or not five petitions have enough valid signatures. These petition challenges all relate to whether certain candidates should be on the primary ballots of the Republican and Democratic Parties. One challenge concerns a congressional candidate, and the others to legislative candidates. The primary is June 5. See this story. One case has already been adjudicated, and the candidate was found to lack four valid signatures.
On April 4, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell signed HB 1133, which legalizes out-of-district petitioners. This is the first ballot access improvement Virginia has made since 2001.
HB 1133 only passed because a U.S. District Court earlier this year ruled the in-district residency requirement unconstitutional. The case was Lux v Rodrigues, and it had been filed in 2010.
On April 10, the New Mexico Supreme Court will hear a case over whether petitions to place legislative candidates on the primary ballot are valid, even if the petitions didn’t list what district the candidate is running in. See this story.
On April 4, the Oklahoma Senate Rules Committee passed HB 1058, but the Committee amended it so that it is less helpful. The original bill lowered the number of signatures from 5% of the last vote cast, to exactly 22,500 signatures. The amended bill retains the 5%, but says it is 5% of the last gubernatorial vote. The current law requires 5% of the past presidential vote in midterm years, and 5% of the last gubernatorial vote in presidential years. Therefore, as amended, the bill only helps in midterm years.
If the bill passes in the form as amended by the Senate Rules Committee, the petition requirement in 2014 would be 51,739 signatures. By contrast, in 2010, 73,134 signatures were required, because in 2010 the law required 5% of the last presidential vote.
On April 4, the Nebraska Senate unanimously passed LB 1035, which makes it easier for parties to remain ballot-qualified. Existing law requires a party to poll 5% of the vote every two years. The bill says that when a party meets the 5% vote test, it is then automatically on the ballot for four years. This is very similar to a bill in Utah that also passed recently. In both states, the Libertarian Party did the work to get the bills passed. In Nebraska, the Secretary of State’s office also helped.
