On January 22, the National Popular Vote plan (for presidential elections), SB 46, passed the Colorado State Senate on second reading; and on January 24 it passed on third reading. The bill now goes to the House. The vote appears to have been strictly partisan, with all Democrats voting “yes” and all Republicans voting “no”. The bill passed 20-15. A Republican motion to provide that the plan only go into effect if the voters pass it in 2008 was defeated by the same 20-15 margin. Democrats also have a majority in the state House of Representatives.

Every year, a major libertarian event is held in February in New Hampshire, called the Free State Project New Hampshire Liberty Forum. This year’s event will include Congressman Ron Paul as a speaker. The Forum is in Concord, Feb. 23-25.

On January 22, New Mexico State Representative Brian K. Moore introduced HB 331. It eliminates the need for qualified minor parties to submit a petition for each person its nominates at its conventions.

New Mexico is the only state that requires a new or minor party to submit one petition to qualify itself…lets that new party nominate by convention…and then expects that new qualified party to submit another petition for each person nominated. The logical equivalent would be a state law requiring a person nominated in a party primary to then submit a petition to get himself or herself on the November ballot. Such a law would be laughed at.

Or consider another analogy: can one imagine a state requiring President Bush to submit a petition to get himself on the November ballot after he has won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s national convention? Yet that is what New Mexico does, to qualified parties that do not nominate by primary.