On June 24, the Oregon House Rules Committee passed SB 326. This is the bill that repeals the 2005 law that made it illegal for primary voters to sign an independent candidate’s petition. The 2009 repeal had already passed the Senate on May 14.
Also, it appears that the bill to legalize fusion (HB 2414) has had its contents merged into SB 326. So, both provisions are now linked together in SB 326. Thanks to Dan Meek for this news.
The Arizona House Judiciary Committee hears two important election law bills on Thursday, June 25, at 9 a.m. in House Hearing Room 4. On the agenda is SB 1091, the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill that legalizes out-of-state circulators for independent presidential petitions, but does not legalize out-of-state circulators for any other type of petition.
Also on the agenda is SCR 1025, which would put a ballot question on the November 2010 ballot, asking voters if they want to repeal public funding for candidates for state office.
On June 24, five U.S. House members introduced a bill to require states to use “bipartisan commissions” to draw U.S. House boundaries after each census. The bill won’t have a bill number until June 25, and the text isn’t available yet. See this press release. The five house members include four Democrats and one Republican. The four Democrats are John Tanner of Tennessee, Allen Boyd of Florida, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, and Baron Hill of Indiana. The Republican is Mike Castle of Delaware. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for this news.
On June 24, the Delaware House passed SB 198, the National Popular Vote bill. The vote was 23-12.
Almost a month ago, a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island struck down a Rhode Island election law that makes it illegal for anyone to circulate the petition to recognize a new political party during an odd year. On June 24, the Rhode Island Attorney General announced the state will not appeal that decision. The case is Block v Mollis, and had been won by the Moderate Party, a party that only exists in Rhode Island.
