On January 8, bills were introduced in each house of the Oregon legislature to provide that only the two candidates who received the most votes in the primary could be on the November ballot. The bills would affect all federal and state office except president. They are SB 53 and HB 2061. They appear to be sponsored by the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature, rather than being sponsored by any particular legislators.
On January 10, five Washington State Senators introduced SB 5096, which provides that political parties should pay the administrative costs of their own primaries. The bill’s main author is Republican Bob McCaslin, who has the most seniority of any State Senator. The four co-sponsors are all Democrats: Chris Marr, Tim Sheldon, Brian Hatfield and Marilyn Rasmussen. The bill has a hearing in the Senate Govt. Operations Committee on Thursday, Jan. 25, at 3:30 pm. The bill does not actually give major parties the right to nominate by a means other than primary. If it is to be taken seriously, it needs some amendments.
As expected, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Wisconsin Right to Life v Federal Election Commission. The Court set an expedited briefing schedule, so that oral arguments will be in May or June 2007. This is the case in which the lower court had ruled that the McCain-Feingold law is unconstitutional as applied in certain situations. Specifically, the court below had held that the part of the law banning almost all corporations from paying for broadcasts that mention candidates (within 60 days of an election) is unconstitutional as applied to ads that don’t even hint how someone should vote.
On January 17, Nebraska State Senator Kent Rogert introduced LD 539, on the subject of independent presidential petitions. The bill would eliminate the primary screen-out. Nebraska lets any registered voter sign for an independent candidate, except that independent presidential candidates cannot obtain signatures from people who voted in the primary. If the bill passes, there will be no Nebraska primary screen-out for any petitions. The bill also moves the petition deadline forward to August 1.
On January 18, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Indiana’s photo-ID law (to vote at the polls) asked for a rehearing en banc. The original decision had been 2-1in favor of Indiana’s law. Now all 12 fulltime 7th circuit judges will decide whether to rehear the case. Crawford v Marion Co. Election Board, 06-2218.
