On November 2, 2010, Janine Hansen, the Constitution (Independent American) Party nominee for Assembly, 33rd district, received 30.43% of the vote and outpolled her Democratic Party opponent. This was the first time since at least 1920 that a minor party nominee for Nevada state legislature had outpolled one of the major party nominees, and the first time that one had polled over 30% of the vote in a race with both major parties.

One could say that in recent years, two Libertarian nominees for the Nevada legislature came closer to victory. In 1992 Tamara Clark polled 44.38% for State Senate in a race in a two-party race; and in 2000 James Dan polled 45.27% for Assembly in a two-party race. But, as noted above, Hansen was running in a 3-party race.

The 33rd Assembly district includes Elko and Humboldt Counties in northeastern Nevada. Hansen has been a frequent candidate for public office in the last decade. She ran for U.S. House in 2002 and polled 3.60%; she ran again for the same office in 2004 and polled 3.65%. In 2006 she was the Constitution Party’s nominee for Secretary of State, and polled 7.03%. In all of these races, she had opponents from both major parties. In 2008 she ran for State Senate and polled 34.75% in a two-party race. She spent years as a lobbyist at the State Capitol, which has given her the experience and knowledge of state government to be a credible candidate.

The Constitution Party affiliate in Nevada is called the Independent American Party, which was founded in 1968 in Nevada. In 2010, it won four partisan county elections in Nevada. It was also strong in the 1970’s. In 1974, one of its legislative nominees, Duane Porter, carried Pershing County, but Pershing County was only part of that district (the 37th Assembly district), and when the Humboldt County part of the district votes were added in, Porter came in third in the district as a whole.

No minor party has elected anyone to the Nevada legislature since 1914, when the Socialist Party elected one State Senator and one member of the Assembly. UPDATE: the Reno News & Review has this story, published January 13, about the party’s success in northeastern Nevada.

Two interesting election law bills have been introduced in the Maine legislature. LD 73 would move the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from late May to early March. It is sponsored by Representative Brian Bolduc (D-Auburn). Under existing law, candidates running in the June partisan primaries file in March. In 1984, the Maine policy that independent candidates must file on the same day that primary candidates must file was declared unconstitutional. That case was Stoddard v Quinn, 593 F.Supp. 300. Therefore, if LD 73 were enacted, it would be unconstitutional.

Starting in 1958, Maine’s petition deadline for all independent candidates was in September (before 1958, Maine held its congressional and state elections in September instead of November, so before 1958 the non-presidential independent candidate petition deadline was in July). In 1961 the independent deadline was moved to August. In 1971 it was moved to primary day in June. In 1979 it was moved to April, and in 1980 the April deadline was declared unconstitutional for presidential independents, and in 1984 April was thrown out for all independent candidates.

The other interesting bill is LD 80, which eliminates public funding in primary season for candidates who have no primary opponent. This is obviously a bill to save money, and is introduced by Representative L. Knight (R-Livermore Falls). Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for this news.

Several interesting Washington state election bills have already been introduced in the 2011 session. An earlier blog post already mentioned SB 5119, to eliminate the presidential primary in 2012.

Secretary of State Sam Reed is backing bills in each house to move the primary so that it is two weeks earlier. The new primary date would be the first Tuesday in August. These bills are HB 1080 and SB SB 5171. They have the somewhat indirect title of “Facilitating voting for service and overseas voters” instead of a more straightforward title such as “Moving the date of the primary.” The bills would require all candidates for Congress and state office to file no later than mid-May. One of the disadvantages of Washington’s top-two system is that it is impossible for anyone to get on the November ballot (unless the person is a write-in candidate who places first or second in the primary) if that person did not file in the first half of the year, and this bill makes that problem worse. Before 1977, it was possible for minor party and independent candidates in Washington state to get on the November ballot by filing in mid-September.

Bills to make County Auditor elections non-partisan are SB 5081 and HB 1143. In Washington, County Auditors administer elections. The chief sponsors of these bills are Senator Craig Pridemore (D-Vancounver), chair of the Senate Committee that handles election law bills, and Representative Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo), a member of the House Committee that handles election law bills.

Bills have been introduced in each house to cancel the primary for any partisan office, if only two (or fewer) candidates file to appear on the primary ballot. They are SB 5153, by Senator Sharon Nelson (D-Vashon) and HB 1142, by Representative Sherry Appleton.

Representative Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) has filed HB 1092, to provide for single-member districts for State House elections. Currently, each legislative district elects two members of the House and one State Senator. The bill would provide for cutting each legislative district into two equal population separate districts.

Representative Mike Armstrong (R-Wenatchee) and 27 other Representatives have introduced HB 1030, which would require ex-felons to pay court-ordered financial obligations before they are allowed to register to vote. It is not clear why this bill has been introduced, because it seems that this is already state policy, a policy that the State Supreme Court upheld in 2007 in Madison v State.