On May 5, the New Jersey Assembly State Government Committee unanimously passed A3777. It moves the presidential primary from February to June. The bill saves money, because the primary for office other than President is in June anyway.

All New Jersey presidential primaries 1968 through 2004 were in June. For 2008, New Jersey held a February presidential primary. A3777 has no effect on petition deadlines for independent or minor party candidate petitions. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for this news.

On May 5, the Nevada Republican Party filed a lawsuit in state district court in Carson City, over whether the September 2011 special U.S. House election should have partisan nominees or not. Nevada has never before had a special U.S. House election. The rules are unclear, and the Secretary of State, who is a Democrat, had determined earlier this week that the election should be conducted as though the office is non-partisan, except that each candidate would have a label on the ballot, indicating his or her party (as determined by voter registration records).

The lawsuit argues that it is clearly the intent of the legislature that special U.S. House elections, just as regularly-scheduled U.S. House elections, are partisan elections in which parties nominate candidates. If the lawsuit wins, the qualified parties will nominate by convention or caucus, under their own rules, because the law says there should be no primaries in special congressional elections. The case is Nevada Republican Party v State of Nevada, 11-oc-00147.

The Tennessee Senate had been scheduled to vote on SB 935 on May 5, but the bill has been reset for Monday, May 9. SB 935 is the ballot access bill for minor and new political parties. When the Senate does take up the bill, it will consider seven amendments, some of which change the number of signatures. The bill has now been set for a vote, and then postponed, eight times now.