There are at least two election law cases filed in 2002 by minor parties or independent candidates that are still pending. One is the Alabama case filed by an independent candidate against Alabama’s 3% (of the last vote cast) petition. That has a hearing in the 11th circuit in Atlanta on March 20.

The other is the Arizona Libertarian Party’s case against a state law that forces the party to let independent voters vote in its primary. That case is still in U.S. District Court. Both sides have been waiting for over a year for the Judge to issue his opinion.

On March 7, the National Popular Vote Plan bill failed to pass the Arkansas House Committee on State Agencies & Governmental Affairs. It was HB 1703, by Rep. Monty Davenport. It got 8 “yes” votes and 5 “no” votes. However, no bill can pass unless it gets 11 votes. The Committee has 15 Democrats and 5 Republicans. Seven Democrats voted “yes”, two voted “no”, and six abstained. Among the Republicans, one voted “yes”, three voted “no”, and one abstained.

On March 7, U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones introduced HJ 4, a House Judiciary Committee Resolution. Although the press release announced that a similar bill is being introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Hillary Clinton, there will be no actual bill in the Senate for some time. The bill requires all states to permit same-day registration for federal elections, as well as to expand absentee voting so that any voter may vote absentee whether he or she is away from home on election day or not. The bill also requires states to let ex-felons vote. Congress has the authority to do all these things, under Article One’s “Elections Clause”, but only for federal elections. The nation’s major civil rights organizations support this bill. The bill’s name is the “Count Every Vote Act.”