On July 13, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1074, another omnibus election law bill. The only ballot access implications in SB 1074 are that the bill moves the non-presidential primary from 9 weeks before the general election, to 10 weeks. Therefore, in 2010, Arizona will hold its primary on August 24, the earliest non-presidential primary in Arizona history.

The date change means that the non-presidential independent candidate deadline moves a week earlier, to May 26. There is no logical reason why the independent candidate petition deadline is keyed to the date of the primary, but in Arizona, that is how it is done. The petition to recognize a party also moves a week earlier, to March 4.

Various interesting election law bills in the U.S. House of Representatives have mostly continued to gain co-sponsors. Below are the number of additional co-sponsors added since June 30, for various bills:

HR 2499 (vote on Puerto Rican status) has gained five co-sponsors since June 30.

HR 2894 (paper trail for vote-counting machines) has gained one.

HR 3025 (requiring states to use bipartisan commissions to draw U.S. House boundaries) has gained two.

HR 1503 (requiring presidential candidates to submit a copy of a birth certificate with the FEC) has gained three.

HR 1826 (public funding for congressional candidates) has gained one.

On July 7, the California Senate Elections Committee passed AB 909. This is the bill that provides that independent voters, at the polls on primary day, must be told that they are free to choose a Republican ballot, a Democratic ballot, or an American Independent Party ballot. The vote was 3-1. Now it goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.