On April 2, the Maine Senate passed LD 1744, the National Popular Vote Plan. The vote was 18-17. The same bill had been voted on in the Senate on March 10, but at that time, one Senator was absent, and the bill had failed to pass since that vote had been 17-17.
On March 28, the Idaho House passed S1514 by a vote of 64-2. This is the bill that says if a candidate changes his or her name before running for office, the ballot should list not only that candidate’s current name, but the candidate’s prior name. This bill was introduced because one of the candidates running for U.S. Senate in this year’s Republican primary legally changed his name to “Pro-Life” last year.
The two legislators who voted “No” are Steven Thayn, a Republican, and Branden Durst, a Democrat.
New Mexico holds a Republican presidential primary on June 3, although no other party will have a New Mexico presidential primary. Names on the Republican ballot are Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Ron Paul.
The Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee is meeting April 1-4 near Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the agenda is a determination to work out a recommended plan for presidential primary schedules in 2012. The Republican Party can only change its rules at its national convention. The Rules Committee, therefore, hopes to come up with a plan that the national convention can approve, when it meets September 1-4 in Minnesota.
The Rules Committee is considering five various plans. Some of them organize the nation by region and allow for a lottery to determine which region goes first. Another plan groups the states by population, and provides that the smallest states go first, and the largest states last. Most of the plans allow New Hampshire and South Carolina the right to go ahead of all other states.
South Dakota holds its presidential primaries on June 3. Since the Constitution Party will have nominated a president by then, it decided not to have its own presidential primary in South Dakota.
The Democratic ballot will only list Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But the Republican ballot will list Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney.
