On May 15, the Missouri legislature adjourned. No election law bills of interest to most readers of this blog passed this year. The bill that came closest to passing was a bill to make it easier to qualify initiatives. Originally known as SB569, its contents were placed into HB228. It passed the House on April 23 but did not progress through the Senate.

Bills to make it more difficult to qualify initiatives, and to move the independent candidate petition deadline from July to March, failed to pass. A bill to bring back the straight-ticket device failed to pass.

Unfortunately, a bill to improve petitioning for new parties also failed to pass. It was SB 70, and it would have corrected a typographical error in the 1993 ballot access reform bill. Although generally petitions to qualify a new party in Missouri do not need to name that party’s nominees, due to a drafting error, if the party wants to run a candidate for president, the presidential candidate and also candidates for presidential elector must be shown on the petition. However, stand-in presidential candidates are permitted on the petition.

Bills to let cities and counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections failed to pass. Thanks to Ken Bush for some of the news in this post.

On May 15, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed HB 723, which requires qualified parties that nominate after the primary (by party committee) to submit a petition of approximately one-half of 1% of the last vote cast for that party in the last general election, for each nominee. The bill needs to go back to the House for another vote, since the Senate version differs from the House version. The House version was worse; it required petitions of 5% of the last vote cast.

On May 12, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas signed S111. It changes the formula that determines which political parties may have a representative on the State Apportionment Board, the body that draws state legislative districts. The old law limited the Board to parties that had polled 25% for Governor in the last election. The new law includes all parties that had at least four state legislators in at least three of the preceding five legislative sessions. The change means that the Progressive Party will be included on the board. It elected six legislators in 2008, six in 2006, and six in 2004.

Although the party’s state chair ran for Governor in 2008 and placed second, his percentage was 21.8%. Also he ran as an independent, so even if he had polled as much as 25%, it wouldn’t have counted for the party, under the old law.