On April 16, the Connecticut Joint Government Administration & Elections Committee passed SB 1184. It moves the presidential primary from March to February 5. It will soon get a vote on the Senate floor.
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On April 26, the Montana House passed SB 96, which makes it illegal to pay initiative petition circulators on a per-signature basis, and makes it illegal for non-residents of Montana to circulate. The vote in the House was 86-14; the vote in the Senate on the previous day had been 45-5.
On April 26, the Missouri Senate Financial, Government Organization & Elections Committee passed HB 894, by a vote of 3-2. The 3 Republicans voted “Yes”; the 2 Democrats voted “No.” That is unusual, since the sponsor is a Democrat.
HB 894 requires all independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy in March. The bill doesn’t even exclude presidential independents. That part of the bill is definitely unconstitutional, under the 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze. Furthermore, the so-called rationale, to treat all candidates equally (in Missouri, members of qualified parties must file in March to run in the August primary) will not be realized. New party petitions aren’t due until late July, and neither this bill or any other bill proposes to require the candidates of new parties to file any declaration of candidacy in March.
The bill has already passed the House. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.
As expected, on April 26, the Vermont Senate passed SB108 on third (final) reading. This time the vote was 16-12. It had passed on April 25 on 2nd reading. As noted, it only applies to the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House race.
If it doesn’t pass the House this year, it can pass next year, since Vermont has 2-year legislative sessions. But if it passes this year, it would take effect in 2008.
On April 26, qualifying closed for Georgia’s special congressional election in the 10th district, set for June. As expected, Dr. Jim Sendelbach, a Libertarian, qualified, since no petition is required in special elections (just a filing fee). Also qualifying were 6 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The party labels will be next to each candidate’s name on the ballot.
This will be the first U.S. House election in Georgia with a third party candidate on the ballot, with a party label, since 1942. Starting in 1943, Georgia began requiring a 5% petition for minor party and independent candidates, except in special elections. And in special elections, until very recently, party labels weren’t printed on ballots.
The New York Times article of April 26 lists all ten candidates by name and party affiliation. It is somewhat unusual for that newspaper to mention minor party candidates for Congress.