On May 31, Sunday, the Nevada Senate passed SB 212 by a vote of 20-1. It requires initiative petitions to include a substantial number of signatures from each of the 3 U.S. House districts. The bill also says that after 2011, the legislature must revisit the issue.
The one “No” vote was from Senator Terry Care (D-Las Vegas).
On Saturday, May 30, the Nevada Senate Finance Committee amended SB 212, so that if the bill becomes law, initiatives would need a substantial number of signatures from each of Nevada’s three U.S. House districts. This is a far less restrictive idea than the original bill, which required a substantial number of signatures in each of Nevada’s 42 Assembly districts for a statewide initiative petition. See this article, which mistakenly says Nevada has 4 U.S. House districts.
The Prohibition Party holds a national committee meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 17-18. Speakers include Rev. Dr. John Killian, and also History Professor J. David Gillespie, author of “Politics at the Periphery.” The meeting is at Barton-First Southern Methodist Church, 2869 Mendenhall Road.
The League of Women Voters finished studying the National Popular Vote Plan at the end of April, 2009, but was unable to come to a consensus on whether to support it.
The May 28 issue of the Advocate, Baton Rouge’s daily newspaper, has this story about the defeat of HB 776, which would have eliminated the congressional primary for small qualified parties and left them with no means to nominate. The story focuses its attention on fears that the bill was really a “trojan horse” bill that would later be amended to eliminate partisan primaries for Congress and return Louisiana to a “top-two” system for congressional elections.
The story, and these fears, seem to have no foundation in fact. Secretary of State Jay Dardenne has been a supporter of partisan primaries for congressional elections. He would have no motive to initiative a bill that would be a vehicle for ending Louisiana’s partisan primaries for Congress. Furthermore, he pledged to the legislative committee that if HB 776 did get amended to abolish partisan primaries, he and the bill’s sponsor would then withdraw the bill. The basis for the suspicions appears to be the fact that Secretary Dardenne is thought to be planning to run for U.S. Senate in 2010 against Republican incumbent David Vitter, and some people believe Dardenne would have a better chance in a “top-two” primary than in the existing system. Thanks to The Hankster for the link.
