On February 6, the Utah House Government Operations Committee passed SB 27. It had passed the Senate on January 30. It makes two small but useful changes to procedures for independent presidential candidates. It restores the statutory petition deadline that had been accidentally repealed in 1994, and sets that deadline as August 15. Also, it ends Utah’s unique requirements that independent presidential candidates must file in person. Gloria La Riva, presidential candidate last year of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, had complained about being forced to make a special trip to Utah just to file. The bill says an independent presidential candidate may choose an agent to file the paperwork.

On February 4, the Arkansas House Committee on State Agencies & Governmental Affairs passed HB 1339, the bill to establish the National Popular Vote Plan. The vote was 12-6. All Democrats on the Committee, and one Republican, voted in favor.

The 9th circuit will postpone proceedings in Nader v Cronin, the Hawaii 2004 ballot access case over whether a state may require six times as many signatures for a presidential independent candidate as it requires for an entire new party. The reason for the delay is to see if the legislature voluntarily eases the disparity.