The excellent ballot access bill that had been introduced in the Illinois House in January has now been introduced in the Senate as well. The bills are SB 733 and HB 158. The Senate sponsor is a Democrat, Michael Frerich; the House bill sponsor is a Republican, William Black.

Both bills set the number of signatures for minor party and independent candidates (for district office) to equal the number of signatures needed by a member of a qualified party who is seeking a place on the primary ballot. Since the primary requirement varies somewhat depending on which party is involved, the bill matches the number required for the biggest major party.

If the bills were to pass, the number of signatures needed in the typical US House district for minor parties and independents would drop from 13,000 to slightly less than 1,000. Since Illinois has the 2nd hardest requirements for minor party candidates for US House in the nation (after Georgia), this bill would make a huge improvement.

Bills will be introduced on Monday, Feb. 12, in both houses of the Washington legislature, to make all elections except presidential elections non-partisan. The bills are being energetically promoted by the Grange. In the past, the Grange has been able to influence a majority of legislators in Washington state to carry out its wishes, on election law matters.

Colorado law says a major party can nominate anyone it wishes, regardless of how long the candidate has been a member of that party. But qualified minor parties cannot nominate someone who has been a member of another party at any time during the preceding year. The Colorado Libertarian Party is challenging this disparate treatment in state court. The case is pending in the State Court of Appeals. However, it appears somewhat likely that the Secretary of State will address this problem in his omnibus election law bill, SB 83, in the next few days. If the legislature cures the problem, the lawsuit will be dismissed.