Mississippi Representative Bob Evans (D-Monticello) has introduced HB 760. It says that if an elected official changes parties, or changes to or from independent status, that official is deemed to have resigned.

Probably that bill, if it became law, could not constitutionally be applied to members of Congress. States that have provision for recall of members of Congress have not been allowed to enforce such laws. The same principle would probably apply to party-switchers. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t permit states to end the tenure of a member of Congress in the middle of the term.

The Kansas House Elections Committee has introduced HB 2447, to restore presidential primaries for parties that have primaries. In Kansas, only the Republican and Democratic Parties have primaries. Other qualified parties nominate by convention, so the bill will have no effect on them if it passes.

On January 27, a Missouri House legislative committee deleted provisions for the return of presidential primaries from an omnibus election law bill. The sponsor of the bill, Representative Peggy McGaugh, said she will try to restore the provision when her bill, HB 1871, is being debated on the House floor.

Primaries would cost $9,000,000, and some legislators don’t want to spend the money. Missouri stopped holding presidential primaries in 2022.