Mass Confusion Over Tennessee County Election Commissions

Posted on by January 24, 2009
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Tennessee law says that the political party holding a majority in the State House of Representatives is entitled to appoint a majority of the seats in each county’s Election Commission. That provision, in existence since 1870, has never been tested or applied because Republicans had never had a majority in the State House of Representatives. But in 2008 Republicans did gain a one-vote majority in the House. Now, county Election Commissioners are wondering about their status, as this interesting newspaper story explains.

No Bill in Nebraska to Improve Ballot Access

Posted on by January 24, 2009
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Even though the Nebraska Director of Elections tried to find a sponsor in the legislature for a bill to make it easier for a party to remain on the ballot, no such bill has been introduced, and the deadline for new bills has passed.

This newspaper article explains that the Nebraska legislature has an unusually small number of bills this year. The explanation is that the many new legislators are reluctant to introduce bills. There are many new legislators in Nebraska this year, because legislative term limits finally took effect.

The bill that had been proposed to assist minor parties would have said that when a party meets the 5% vote test, it remains on the ballot for the next two elections, instead of just one election.

Nevada Secretary of State Bill for January Deadline for All Non-Presidential Candidates

Posted on by January 24, 2009
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Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat, has asked the Nevada legislature to move the deadline for all non-presidential candidates to January of election years, even though the Nevada primary is held in August. The bill to make this change is AB 82, introduced by the Assembly Committee on Elections, Procedures, Ethics, and Constitutional Amendments, on behalf of the Secretary.

The bill also moves the non-presidential independent petition deadline to January. Minor parties, which nominate by convention, would need to have nominated their candidates by January. Major party members seeking to run in the August primary would file a declaration of candidacy no later than January.

More Missouri Anti-Initiative Bills

Posted on by January 24, 2009
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An earlier post noted that bills are pending in both houses of the Missouri legislature to make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. As noted earlier, HB 228 and SB 115 are identical bills that outlaw out-of-state circulators, forbid paying circulators on a per-person basis, and require circulators to work only one petition at at time.

In addition to those bills, HJR3 would boost the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the ballot, from 8% of the last gubernatorial vote (for a state Constitutional change) and 5% (for a statute), to, respectively, 10% and 8%. In addition, HJR4 would say that initiatives need to receive 60% of the popular vote in order to pass.

If the legislature passes HJR3 or HJR4, they would then be placed on the ballot for a popular vote, since they amend sections of the Missouri Constitution dealing with initiatives. HJ3 and HJR4 are both sponsored by Rep. J. C. Kuessner.