The Alabama legislature’s final day is Monday, May 16. On that day, the fate of HB100, which moves the presidential primary to the first Saturday after New Hampshire’s primary, will be decided. The bill has already passed the House and all Senate committees.

So far this year, the only other state that has moved its presidential primary to an earlier date is Arkansas, which moved it from May to the first Tuesday in February. That change was made via SB235, signed into law on March 3, 2005.

Bills are pending in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to move those states’ presidential primaries to March. Pennsylvania’s is now in April, and New Jersey’s is now in June.

On May 11, North Carolina HB 1024 passed the House Election Law Committee. It lets 10 counties use Instant-Runoff Voting for their county and city elections, on a trial basis, in 2006 only. The State Board of Elections would choose which ten counties, based partly on the desires of those counties.

The Florida legislature has adjourned for the year. SB 1996 and HB 1471, which would have created almost impossible rules for circulating initiative petitions, failed to pass. The bills would have outlawed paying circulators per signature, whether directly or indirectly.

The legislature did pass HB 1567, which makes the current rules for minor party presidential ballot access clearer and more specific. The old law said any national political party could place its presidential nominee on the ballot just by requesting it, but hadn’t defined “national political party”. The bill clarifies that it is a party that is on the ballot in at least one state other than Florida.