On May 29, the Illinois Green Party issued a press release, asking Governor Pat Quinn to veto HB 723, which makes it more difficult for ballot-qualified parties to nominate candidates. Specifically, if ballot-qualified parties wish to nominate someone after the February primary is over with, by committee meeting, they can no longer do that unless they submit a petition for each nominee.

The press release points out that, already, one-candidate general elections for the state legislature are very common. In November 2008, 59 of 118 State House races had only one nominee on the ballot, and 20 of 40 State Senate races had only one person on the ballot. The press release also points out that during the years 2002 through 2008, 42 Republicans, 29 Democrats, and 15 Greens were nominated after the primary. If the post-primary method were severely restricted, the number of one-candidate races would be even higher.

On June 1, Free & Equal faxed a letter to Governor Quinn, asking for a veto and reminding him that he has always championed himself as a reformer.

On May 29, the U.S. Department of Justice objected to Georgia rules for voter registration that were passed in 2008. Georgia is one of the states that can’t change its election laws without approval by the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department. The 2008 Georgia rules say that when someone registers to vote, the information on that registration form is matched against Social Security records, and Georgia drivers license records, and if any discrepancy is found, the voter registration is rejected.

The Justice Department letter says that by March 2009, the state had rejected 199,606 registration forms, and that a disproportinate number of the rejected forms are minority ethnic groups. The Justice Department letter cites evidence that the vast majority of rejected voter registration forms were rejected because a single digit was accidentally transposed in a drivers license number, or a Social Security number. See this news story, which contains a link to the Justice Department’s 6-page letter of disapproval. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog for the link.

Note that this issue is separate from the 2009 Georgia law that requires newly-registering voters to submit documents proving that they are citizens. The process of obtaining Justice Department approval for that law lies in the future.

The Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Election Laws will hear H 559 on Wednesday, June 3. It makes it very difficult for anyone to pay a circulator of initiative petitions.

It outlaws any payment per signature, even bonuses for high productivity. It requires paid circulators to register, and to obtain credentials, which must be shown to anyone while the circulator is working. The credentials identifies the circulator. Anyone who is paid to circulate an initiative petition, and fails to register, is subject to a fine of up to $10,000. No one may register as a paid circulator who has ever been convicted of any sex offense. If anyone who has been convicted of a sex offense nevertheless registers, and is found to have violated that provision, such person may never in his or her life again register as a paid circulator. Furthermore, no one may register as a paid circulator who has been convicted of any crime whatsoever in the preceding five years.

The bill also makes it illegal for any paid circulator to work on two initiatives simultaneously. H 559 is sponsored by Rep. Garrett J. Bradley (D-Hingham).