On July 29, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 80, which abolishes the February presidential primary, and merges it with the June primary held for other office.

Governor Brown has not acted on certain other election law bills that passed the same day that AB 80 did. They include SB 168, which outlaws paying initiative, referendum and recall circulators per-signature; AB 459, the National Popular Vote Plan bill; and AB 461, which legalizes write-in votes when the voter forgot, or didn’t know, to “X” the box next to the name written in. The Governor must decide what to do with these bills by August 8.

A California Superior Court Judge has tentatively ruled that San Jose’s campaign finance law, barring contributions to candidates for city office during the 17 days before the election, is unconstitutional. See this story.

The July 29 issue of the Louisville Courier-Journal has this story about the Green Party’s state convention. The article discusses Kentucky ballot access, but is not completely accurate. In Kentucky, if a group polls 2% of the vote for President, it is a qualified minor party for the next four years, and can nominate by convention, with no petitioning needed. The only parties that have attained that status, in the last 80 years, are the Reform Party 1996-2000, the Anderson Coalition 1980-1984, and the American Party 1968-1972. The article implies that a group must poll 20% in order to be free of petitioning for its nominees.