The February 25 issue of the Wall Street Journal carries an op-ed describing how California’s top-two primary is working in this year’s U.S. Senate race. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff is leading in the polls, and he is paying for insincere ads that boost Republican candidate Steve Garvey. Schiff is hoping that the top two candidates in the March 5 primary will be himself and Garvey. This is because Schiff knows how weak the Republican Party is in California, and that if Garvey is Schiff’s only opponent, Schiff will probably win in November easily.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter, who is second in the polls, is backing insincere ads that try to boost Eric Early, another Republican candidate. Porter hopes to divert more votes away from Garvey, by causing more Republican voters to support Early instead of Garvey. If Porter can weaken Garvey, she is more likely to place in the top two.

The op-ed also says that although backers of top-two believed their system would help elect moderates, in reality this year in the U.S. Senate race, the two leading Democrats are opposing each other by moving further to the left. The op-ed is probably behind a pay wall for most readers, but here is a link.

It is House Bill 1109. It was cross-filed in the Maryland Senate as SB1029. The main thrust of the legislation is to permanently legalize electronic signature gathering in Maryland.

Ballot Access News recently covered the subject of electronic signature gathering. Eric Blitz of the Libertarian Party of Maryland, who notified BAN of this development, is of the opinion that electronic signatures were essential to the success of the Libertarian Party of Maryland’s petition drive in 2020, when in person petitioning was legally restricted or otherwise hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Electronic signature have been considered in other state legislatures recently.

Here is the post on the website of the State of Hawaii Office of Elections.

The We The People Party is the political party of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that is his vehicle for ballot status in states in which it is easier to qualify for the ballot as a political party than as an Independent candidate.

Even though there is still a remaining challenge period for all three petitions, signatures are very closely checked by the Hawaii Office of Elections, and there has never been a party struck from the Hawaii ballot by a challenge. Therefore, it is very likely that all three parties will make the Hawaii 2024 ballot.