On March 3, the Oklahoma Senate passed SJR 37, which would make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. The bill adds a U.S. House district distribution requirement. Current law requires an initiative that changes an ordinary law to get the signatures of 8% of the last gubernatorial vote. The bill would provide that the petition would need 8% in each of the five districts. This is a proposed Constitutional change, and if it passes the House as well, would go on the ballot in November 2012. The vote in the Senate was 28-15. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for this news.

In the meantime, the bill to permit one year to gather initiative signatures, HB 1718, has not made any headway. Current law requires that all the signatures on an initiative be gathered in 90 days. Last year the legislature passed a bill expanding the petitioning period to one year, but the Governor vetoed it.

The 9th circuit has set a briefing schedule in Washington State Republican Party v Washington State Grange, 11-35122. The briefs of the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties are due May 23. The responses of the Grange and the state are due June 20. The parties’ rebuttal briefs are due July 4. This is the case that challenges Washington state’s top-two system, which has been in effect since 2008.

In the 9th circuit, all three issues will be aired: (1) whether party labels on the ballot lead voters to believe that the candidates with those labels represent those parties; (2) whether voters’ rights are injured by a general election ballot that includes only the two most popular candidates in any particular race; (3) whether the Libertarian Party’s trademark of its own name is violated by the law allowing any person to use the party’s name on the ballot.

On March 3, North Carolina State Senators Andrew Brock (R-Mocksville) and Eleanor Kinnaird (D-Carrboro) introduced SB 225, the same bill to ease ballot access that is also pending in the House as HB 32.