Two interesting election law bills pending in the Illinois legislature are still alive. They are HB 1685 (the National Popular Vote Plan) and HB 1752 (timid ballot access improvements). Both have passed both houses of the legislature in some version, but since the versions passed by each house are not the same, further legislative action is needed. The regular legislative session is over, but these two bills (along with many other bills) are eligible to be considered in the special session. The special session may last for many more weeks. The legislative webpage, which says that these two bills must be enacted by June 30, is not up-to-date.

On Saturday night at 11:04 pm (June 30), the Delaware House defeated HB 177 by 17-19. The bill would have outlawed fusion. The bill became was of the most contentious fights during the last day of the session. For more about the fight over this bill, see www.delawarewatch.blogspot.com. The Democratic Party legislative leadership was determined to pass this bill, but that Democratic leadership failed to achieve its aim.

On June 27, the lawsuit filed by the Iowa Libertarian and Green Parties in 2005 was finally settled, without any need for a judicial decision. The State has agreed to let voters register into any unqualified party that (1) submits 850 signatures; (2) has placed candidates on the ballot in the last ten years. Iowa and Kansas had been the only states in which it was physically impossible for a voter to register into any party that is not a ballot-qualified party. Now, Iowa will start printing a blank line on the “political party” question, on the voter registration forms. This outcome would not have been possible without the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and its attorney, Randall Wilson.

Groups that submit the 850 signatures, and which have placed candidates on the ballot recently, will be entitled to a list of any voters, with their addresses, who register as members of such groups.

The right of a voter to register into an unqualified party has now been won, either by lawsuit decisions or by settlements, in Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and New York. However, in Oklahoma, even though the lawsuit won, the state implemented it with great stinginess; the outcomes have been far better in the other states named above.