On February 16, the Oklahoma Senate Rules Committee defeated SB 359 by a vote of 10-4. The bill would have lowered the number of signatures for a new party from 5% of the last vote cast, to 5,000 signatures. The author is Senator Randy Brogdon.
It is possible the House bill could still pass and return to the Senate. Also, the lawsuit Barr v Zeriax is pending. Discovery is proceeding.
On February 16, the Arkansas Senate unanimously passed HB 1246, one of the two ballot access bills introduced by Green Party legislator Richard Carroll. HB 1246 expands the period for a new party petition from any 60 days of the party’s choosing, to any 90 days. Thanks to Mark Jenkins for the news.
The Pennsylvania Voters Choice Act has now been introduced. It is SB 252 and has nine Senators as sponsors. They include seven Republicans (Mike Folmer, Pat Browne, Mary Jo White, Lisa Baker, Jeffrey Piccola, Rob Wonderling, and Jane Earll) and two Democrats (Jim Ferlo and Lisa Boscola).
Minor parties would be on the November ballot automatically, and would nominate by convention, if they had registration membership of at least .05% of the state total. Independent candidates would need 2,000 signatures for statewide office, and smaller requirements for district office.
As of February 16, the bill is not yet posted to the state webpage. The webpage only has Senate bills up through SB 195, but it should soon catch up.
If the bill were in effect now, the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties would be ballot-qualified.
Eight Ohio State Senators have introduced SB 43, to simplify ballot access for presidential candidates running in presidential primaries. Under current law, such presidential candidates must submit the names of a large number of candidates for Delegate to the national convention, when they qualify for the presidential primary ballot. The bill would delete the need for presidential candidates to submit such lists. As under current law, presidential primary candidates would continue to either submit 1,000 signatures, or be qualified for primary season matching funds. The bill’s sponsors include seven Democrats and one Republican. The delegates would be chosen according to party bylaws.
Four Tennessee state representatives have agreed to be co-plaintiffs in a proposed new lawsuit that will challenge President Obama’s eligibility to be president. They are Eric Swafford, Glen Casada, Stacey Campfield, and Frank Niceley, all Republicans. The proposed lawsuit is being sponsored by Dr. Orly Taitz’ Defend Our Freedoms Foundation. Here is one of the many articles in Tennessee newspapers. It is not clear that state legislators have any more standing than plaintiffs in earlier, similar lawsuits. Even members of Congress have been told by the courts, in past lawsuits, that they lacked standing in certain types of constitutional cases.
