Nebraska Bill to Require Circulators to Wear Numbered Badges Fails to Pass

Posted on by March 20, 2011
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Nebraska bill LB 523 failed to pass the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, and therefore it is dead. The Nebraska Senate’s deadline for bills to pass committee was last week. The bill would have required petition circulators to wear ID badges, which would not include the circulator’s name, but would include a unique number assigned to that circulator. It also would have required the person in charge of the petition drive to keep a record of names and addresses of all persons working on that petition drive.

Secretary of State John Gale initiated this bill, and even testified for it in person, but he did not persuade the committee to advance the bill. Thanks to Kent Bernbeck for this news.

California Republican Party Likely to Conduct Primary in 2014 At its Own Expense

Posted on by March 20, 2011
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The California Republican Party is holding a state convention in Sacramento March 18-20. According to this news story, the party is likely to begin holding its own primary, at its own expense, beginning in 2014. The party would postally mail a ballot to all registered Republicans, in advance of the June government primary. The results would determine which Republican would be endorsed by the party, and the endorsed Republican candidates would be the beneficiary of party support at the polls in June and November.

The private primary ballot will cost a great deal to administer. However, apparently the party hopes that Republican registrants will respond to the mail ballot, not only with a vote, but with a donation to the party.

Beaufort, North Carolina Observer Carries Op-Ed Condemning North Carolina Ballot Access Laws

Posted on by March 20, 2011
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The March 18 issue of the Beaufort Observer has this op-ed, criticizing North Carolina’s ballot access laws. The op-ed is by Daven Bakst of the John Locke Foundation. Press commentary in North Carolina has been unanimously critical of the March 11 decision of the State Supreme Court, upholding the state’s ballot access laws.

New Mexico Ballot Access Bill Passes Legislature

Posted on by March 19, 2011
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On Saturday, March 19, the New Mexico House passed SB 403, the omnibus election law bill sponsored by the organization of County Clerks. Among its many election law provisions, it improves the petition deadline for independent candidates by three weeks, and lowers the number of signatures for petitions to recognize minor parties in midterm years. The bill is now through the legislature. It passed unanimously in both houses. Much credit for the ballot access improvements goes to Alan Woodruff, who is a current member of the Green Party and who worked with the County Clerks. Also Daniel Ivey-Soto, Executive Director of the County Clerks organization, was very helpful.

Nevada Committee Will Hear Bills to Make it More Difficult for Initiatives to get on Ballot

Posted on by March 19, 2011
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On March 22, Tuesday, the Nevada Senate Legislative Operations & Elections Committee will hear testimony on SB 133 and SB 241. Both bills require strict distribution requirements for statewide initiatives. SB 133 would require that an initiative petition contain signatures of 10% of the last vote cast in each of the state’s 42 Assembly districts. SB 241 would require an initiative petition to contain the signatures of 10% of the last vote cast in each of the thirteen University of Nevada Regents districts.

Currently, initiative petitions in Nevada need signatures from 10% of the last vote cast in each of the three U.S. House districts.

Both bills are sponsored by Senator Dean Rhoads (R-Tuscarora).