Bills to abolish the straight-ticket device have been introduced recently in Rhode Island and West Virginia. A straight-ticket device lets a voter cast a ballot for all partisan offices on the ballot without even looking to see who is running. The voter simply makes a single mark to cast a vote for every nominee of one particular party for all offices.

The Rhode Island bills are SB 2310 and HB 7482. The Senate bill is sponsored by three Republicans, one Democrat, and one Independent The House bill is sponsored by four Democrats and one Republican.

The West Virginia bill is HB 2974, by Delegate Troy Andes (R-Hurricane).

There are also three Oklahoma bills to abolish the straight-ticket device, but they were introduced in 2009. They are still alive because Oklahoma has two-year sessions.

In 2009, the California Assembly passed AB 909, which instructs precinct polling place officials that they should orally inform independent voters that they are free to choose a Democratic or a Republican primary ballot (except that independent voters can’t vote in the Republican presidential primary).

The bill will be brought up this year in the State Senate, shortly after the June 8, 2010 primary is over. The bill’s author will wait to see if the voters pass or reject the top-two open primary, Proposition 14. The bill will have no meaning (except for the Democratic presidential primary) if Prop. 14 passes.

Earlier this month, the Nevada Green Party turned in signatures so that its gubernatorial candidate, David Scott Curtis, can be on the November 2010 ballot as a Green Party nominee.

Nevada has a very strange procedure for parties to get on the ballot. The party can submit a petition of 1% of the last vote cast, by June of an election year. That petition for 2010 requires 9,083 signatures,.

But, Nevada also has an alternate procedure by which a party can qualify just a single candidate for statewide office (not counting President) with just 250 signatures, and the party label will be printed on the ballot. But that petition is due in early February. The Green Party used that procedure. If Curtis gets 1% of the vote, the party will be back on the ballot for 2012 and won’t need to petition in 2012.