Ohio Legislative Committee Hears Testimony on Moving 2012 Primary to May 22

Posted on by December 14, 2011
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On December 14, the Ohio House Government & Elections Committee held a hearing on HB 391, a bill introduced on December 13, 2011, to hold the presidential primary, and the primary for all other office, on May 22, 2012. The bill is sponsored by Representative Matt Huffman, the Republican Floor Leader. Under current law, Ohio has a March primary for some partisan offices and a June primary for other partisan offices. HB 391 also provides that petitions to get on the primary ballot would be due 75 days before the primary, instead of the normal 90 day deadline.

The bill would save the taxpayers a great deal of money, and seems likely to pass. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the news about the bill.

It is interesting that three of the most populous states in the United States, Texas, Ohio, and New York, still don’t know when they will be holding their 2012 congressional primaries. And even the presidential primary date is unsettled for Texas and Ohio.

Twenty-eight Texas Members of U.S. House Ask Court to Hold Just One Primary

Posted on by December 14, 2011
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Late on December 13, twenty-eight U.S. House members from Texas filed a document with the 3-judge U.S. District Court in San Antonio that is hearing one of the Texas redistricting cases. The letter asks the judges to set a unified primary election for all office in 2012. The letter says, “We believe that a unified primary is a common sense approach to the United States Supreme Court’s stay of Congressional and Legislative plans. A single primary election would reduce voter confusion, reduce the cost to taxpayers of two primaries, and minimize voter fatigue due to multiple elections in a small period of time. We therefore ask this honorable Court to enter orders adopting a single primary date for 2012 at the earliest practicable date.”

The letter appears to have been initiated by the Republican members of the U.S. House from Texas. The first two pages contain the signatures of all 23 Republican members of the U.S. House from Texas, except for Ron Paul. Chances are that Paul would have signed it also, but he is probably away from Congress, campaigning. On the third page are the signatures of six of the nine Democratic members from Texas. The only Democrats who didn’t sign the letter are Silvestre Reyes, Charles Gonzalez, and Lloyd Doggett.

The Republican members of Congress from Texas appear to be in defiance of the Texas Republican Party, which favors keeping the presidential primary in March. See this story about the wishes of the Republican Party.

Assuming the court agrees with the 28 members of Congress who signed the letter, that primary will almost certainly be in April or May, not March. That would automatically extend petitioning deadlines for minor parties and for non-presidential independents, and would almost certainly result in a later deadline for independent presidential petitions as well, although that would take a tweak in the law.

While Texas Waits to Learn Primary Date, Candidate Filing Extended for Four Days, to December 19

Posted on by December 13, 2011
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On December 13, the Texas primary filing deadline was moved from December 15 to December 19. No one yet knows when the primary will be, and in the case of the U.S. House and state legislative races, no one knows what the district boundaries will be. Anyone who files will be permitted to withdraw later and obtain a refund of the filing fee. See this story.

Texas Hearing on 2012 Primary Date

Posted on by December 13, 2011
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The 3-judge U.S. District Court hearing that concerns the 2012 Texas primary dates, and the dates for candidates to file for the primary, appears to be lasting throughout the day on Tuesday, September 13. See this story, which says that the judges heard from election officials, who asked for a single primary date; and also that the judges heard from Republican Party officials, who want a March presidential primary and a May primary for U.S. House and legislative seats. When the news story was filed, the hearing was not yet over.