Texas has always had open primaries, ever since there have been primaries in Texas. On March 5, voters who chose the Republican ballot saw 13 non-binding questions about policy. Proposition Nine was, “The Republican Party of Texas should restrict voting in the Republican primary to only registered Republicans.” It passed with 72%. The unofficial vote totals are: yes 1,614,331; no 604,801.
Louisiana Representative Kyle M. Green (D-Marrero) has introduced HB 133, which would let independent congressional candidates get on the general election ballot with a fee instead of a mandatory petition. All independent candidates for president and legislature already have the ability to get on the general election ballot simply by paying a fee. Congressional independents also had that avenue, until January 2024, when a special session of the legislature took that away for independent candidates for Congress, effective 2026. Thanks to Mike Wolf for this news.
Justin Kounelias, a producer and writer, has this article about the authority of Democratic and Republican national presidential conventions to choose the party’s nominees for president and vice-president, even when that contradicts the results of presidential primaries. Thanks to Michael Drucker for the link.
For the third year in a row, the Mississippi legislature has failed to pass any bill or proposed constitutional amendment to restore the initiative process. Although bills to restore the initiative advanced in both chambers this year, they didn’t advance far enough, and now it is too late for them to pass this year. See this story.
On March 20, Kari Lake and Mark Fincham asked the U.S. Supreme Court to expedite considration of their lawsuit, Lake v Fontes, 23-1021. This is the case filed by two Republican candidates in Arizona who want to stop the use of Arizona’s vote-counting equipment. Lake and Fincham filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 14. So far the state still hasn’t even indicated whether it plans to file an opposition brief. Often states don’t bother to do that, unless the Court asks them to. Here is the brief asking for expedited treatment.
