On April 5, the Hawaii House passed SB 1956, the “National Popular Vote Plan.” It had passed the Senate in February. It now goes to Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican.
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On April 5, the 7th circuit voted 7-4 to uphold Indiana’s law, requiring voters to show government-issued Photo ID in order to vote at the polls. Technically, the 7th circuit voted 7-4 not to rehear the original decision, which had also upheld the Indiana law. The case is Indiana Democratic Party v Rokita, 06-2218.
The Montana House passed HB797 on March 29. It creates a February presidential primary. Existing law has the Montana presidential primary in June. The bill is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law. If that happens, South Dakota will be the only remaining state that still holds a presidential primary in June (because New Mexico won’t hold a presidential primary at all, and California already moved its June presidential primary to February, earlier this year).
Technically, the bill doesn’t set a February presidential primary date; it just gives the Secretary of State the authority to set a date. But the Secretary of State has already said he will choose February 5.
On April 5, a majority of the Florida Board of Executive Clemency announced that most ex-felons will regain the right to vote, at least as long as those particular Board members are in office. Their terms all expire in January 2011.
The Board, by a vote of 3-1, said it will make restoration of voting rights automatic, except in the case of murderers, sexual predators, and ex-felons who still haven’t made restitution to their victims. The members of the Board are the four statewide state constitutional office-holders: Governor Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson. When they leave office, the future office-holders could theoretically reverse the policy.
Three of the four officers are Republicans; the Chief Financial Officer is a Democrat. Governor Crist worked hard to implement this policy. He was opposed by the Attorney General. Since the plan needed 3 votes, the swing vote was the Agriculture Commissioner, whose vote had been in doubt until April 5.
On April 4, the Texas House Elections Committee heard testimony on HB 2280, which would make it legal for primary voters to sign petitions for new parties and independent candidates. Approximately 15 people spoke in favor. Three individuals spoke against.
The Committee also heard testimony on a bill to impose partisan registration, HB 3118. There was some discussion among the legislators on the committee of potentially passing HB 3118 and then using registration by party data to determine which parties should be on the ballot.