A bill will be introduced in the Idaho State Senate on Monday, March 26, to create a system in which voters register into parties. The bill will not let members of parties vote in any primary other than that voter’s own party. However, the bill will require that parties permit independents to vote in any primary.
On March 15, HB 358 was introduced in the Alabama House to move the presidential primary from June to February. A bill to do this had passed last year, but because it had a technical error in it, the state didn’t forward it to the U.S. Justice Department for pre-clearance under the Voting Rights Act. Therefore, the 2006 change is null and void. The error was that the 2006 bill accidentally moved the primary for all office, not just president, from June to February. The new bill, HB 358, will keep the June primary for all office except president.
Washington state law gives a committee the power to set the state’s presidential primary date. That committee met on March 23, but failed to agree on moving the primary from May to February. The Committee cannot act unless at least six members agree. The five Republicans voted for a February 5 primary, but the 4 Democrats voted for a March 18 primary. This produced a stalemate, so the primary remains in May. Some legislative leaders want to cancel it and use caucuses instead.
On March 22, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale filed a lawsuit in state court to obtain a place on this year’s Democratic primary, which is held in August. He has been elected as the Democratic nominee in every election since 1975. But this year the party refused to accept him as a candidate, since the party says Dale supported President Bush in 2004. Nothing in the Mississippi election code gives a political party the authority to evaluate the political actions of individuals who wish to run in party primaries. The case is Dale v Mississippi Democratic Party, 7th Circuit Court, 251-07-268. Thanks to Steve Rankin for this news.
On March 22, the Arizona Judiciary Committee passed SB 1430. It moves the Arizona primary from mid-September to early September. Because Arizona ties the independent candidate petition deadline to the same date that primary candidates must file, the bill indirectly makes the independent candidate petition deadline earlier than it has been. The bill has already passed the Senate.
Arizona already has the 2nd earliest independent presidential petition deadline in the nation (only Texas is earlier). This bill, in some presidential election years, would have the petition due in late May instead of early June. The issue of the deadline is already pending in the 9th circuit in Nader v Brewer (briefs have been filed, but a hearing date hasn’t been set yet). It is ironic that a bill would pass, making the deadline even worse, while the issue is pending in court.
The sponsor, Senator Karen Johnson, says she doesn’t want to make things worse for independent candidates, yet so far she has failed to amend her bill. She could easily do so, by adding a provision that cuts the link between the petition deadline for independent candidates and the petition deadline for candidates getting on a primary ballot. Senator Johnson’s phone number is 602-926-3160. Please telephone her office and ask that she amend SB 1430 so that it does not injure independent candidates.
