Oregon State Senator Bill Morrisette (D-Springfield) has introduced SB 647, to move the primary in mid-term years from May to September. In presidential election years, Oregon would continue to have a May primary for all office. Thanks to Mary Starrette for this news.
Both houses of the Maryland legislature now have a bill to cut the number of signatures for a previously unqualified party from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures. SB 947 had been introduced earlier, and now the same bill is in the House as HB 1562.
The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs held a hearing on SB 947 on March 12. Senator Jamin Raskin made an impassioned for the bill, and no one testified against it. The Committee will vote in the near future.
A U.S. District Court is expected to hold a trial in late April in the ballot access lawsuit called Block v Mollis, no. 09-47. The issue is whether there is any strong state interest in making it illegal to circulate a petition for a new party in an odd year. Rhode Island does not let the petition to create a new ballot-qualified party start to circulate until January 1 of any even year.
There are many reasons why a group might want to be a qualified party in an odd year. Only qualified parties are listed on the voter registration form, and the sooner a group gets on that form, the faster it will gain registered members. Also, if a party qualifies in an odd year, its chances of recruiting good candidates are enhanced. Also, paid petition circulators tend to be less expensive in odd years than in even years.
On March 12, the Oregon House passed HB 2588 by a vote of 39-19. This is the National Popular Vote bill. Significantly, eight Republicans voted for the bill. Often the idea is treated as a partisan issue, in which Democrats favor and Republicans oppose, although there is no logic to that partisan division, unless one assumes emotions from the 2000 election are in play. Thanks to John Koza for the news.
On March 11, the Socialist Workers Party announced that it had nominated Angela Lariscy for Governor of New Jersey, and will obtain the needed 800 valid signatures to get her on the ballot. The Socialist Workers Party has nominated someone for Governor of New Jersey twelve times. The party’s best showing for that office was its first attempt, in 1946, when Alan Kohlman received .70% of the total vote cast for Governor.
