On September 20, the Pennsylvania Senate approved SB 224, which moves the primaries for all office in 2024 from late April to March 19. Only two Senators voted against the bill. They are Republicans Jarrett Coleman and Scott Hutchinson.
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On September 20, Rasmussen Reports, a polling company, released a poll that includes a theoretical independent presidential candidacy by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. See this story. The poll says Kennedy would get 25% of the vote in the general election.
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear Growe v Trump, A23-1354, on Tuesday, November 2. This is the case over whether former President Donald Trump should be on the Republican primary ballot on March 5.
Seymour, Indiana farmer John Rust has sued the State of Indiana over its law that bars him from a Republican Primary ballot because he did not vote in the last two GOP primaries and did not get the permission of his Jackson County GOP Chair to run.
Mr. Rust asserts that that law bars 81% of Indiana voters from competing in that state’s electoral politics.
Here is a story on this matter. The case is State and Rust v Morales, 49D13-2309-PL-036487. It is pending in Superior Court, Marion County, a state trial court.
This September 20, 2023 press release from New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office touting her signature on several bills regarding the people’s voting rights certainly is rich.
In 2020, the New York legislature and Governor passed legislation that tripled the number of signatures (15,000 to 45,000) for minor party statewide candidates to qualify for the General Election ballot without increasing the six week period allowed for gathering the signatures. Additionally, if candidates can actually now make the ballot, the legislation more than doubled the number of votes necessary to remain on the ballot and changed that vote test so that it applied to Governor and President every two years, instead of only Governor every four years.
If the New York General Assembly really wanted to do something for the voters of their state, restoring ballot access laws to what they were before the 2020 laws should be at the top of their list.