The Oklahoma legislature will adjourn on May 25. It appears that the only election law bill of any interest that is likely to pass this year is HB 2095, which moves the presidential primary to January 29. It passed the House on March 7 and will probably pass the Senate before adjournment. Thanks to the poster below for improving the accuracy of this item.

Bills to ease ballot access, to eliminate the straight-ticket device, and to implement the National Popular Vote Plan for presidential elections, are unlikely to pass.

The Legal Affairs Director for the Ohio Secretary of State, Laurel Beatty, has scheduled a June 5 meeting, to discuss emergency regulations on how new political parties qualify for the ballot. The old law was declared unconstitutional last year. No bills are pending in the legislature to replace the old law. Therefore, the Secretary of State will probably draw up a regulation for a temporary replacement for the old law. The old law required a petition signed by 1% of the last vote cast, due 4 months before the primary. The 6th circuit determined that it is too harsh, given that no groups had used it since 2000.

The Simi Valley Republican presidential debate of May 3 did not cover any matters concerning voting rights or election law, except that each of the 10 presidential candidates was asked about changing the U.S. Constitution to let foreign-born citizens run for President. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee said “yes”, and John McCain said he is undecided. The others said “no.”

Ron Paul did not utter the word “libertarian”, yet the press coverage of the debate consistently described him with that adjective. The Boston Globe said he is a “fiery libertarian”; Newsweek says he is a “Libertarian Republican”; National Review Online mentioned his “non-interventionist libertarian position”; Bloomberg.com says Paul “echoed the libertarian themes on warrantless searches and foreign policy”; the New York Sun said Paul is a “pure libertarian”; the Long Island Press said Paul is “a one-time Libertarian Party presidential nominee”; the Brazosport Facts (a newspaper in Paul’s district) referred to his “libertarian views”; the Ventura County Star called him “a libertarian who voted against the Iraq war at the outset.” It is almost as though the Libertarian Party was represented in the debate, at least for those voters who are reading the press on May 4.