Vermont is one of a minority of states which permits write-ins, but which has no procedure for a write-in candidate to file a declaration of candidacy. Therefore, under Vermont law, all write-ins must be counted. Since most write-ins in most races are somewhat unserious, that causes lots of work for elections officials. The Vermont Secretary of State had tried to get a bill introduced, providing that Vermont should also have a law requiring write-in candidates who want their write-ins tallied to file a declaration of write-in candidacy. Then, the towns would only need to tally write-ins for declared write-in candidates. However, no such bill was introduced this year.

Oklahoma’s legislature has advanced two bills that make it easier to get initiatives on the ballot. On March 10, the House passed HB 2246 by 90-4. It increases the petitioning period for an initiative from 90 days to one year.

SJR 13 passed the State Senate unanimously on March 4. It lowers the number of signatures for an initiative in midterm years, by changing the base for calculating the number of signatures from the last vote cast, to the last gubernatorial vote cast.

The Kennebec Journal (daily newspaper for Maine’s capital city, Augusta) has this article about LD 547, the bill to improve write-in voting. It is very unusual for the problems of write-in candidates to receive any publicity at all. LD 547, the brainchild of independent U.S. Senate candidate Herb Hoffman, has a legislative hearing on March 20. Hoffman became interested in the problems of getting write-in votes counted, after he was removed from the ballot last year and had to carry on his campaign for U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate.