The Constitution Party national convention will be April 17-20, in Salt Lake City. The presidential and vice-presidential nominees will be chosen on April 20. Thanks to Thom Holmes for this information.
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On October 10, the North Caorlina legislature approved SB 747, an omnibus election bill. Among other changes, it amends the law concerning who can vote in partisan primaries. The old law said independents could vote in primaries if the party consented. The new law removes the procedure for a party to inform the state of its wishes about independent voters. Instead, it is now automatic for independents to choose a primary ballot if they wish, and there is no provision for a party to express its wishes about that.
The new law makes no concrete difference because in recent past elections, all parties with primaries have informed the state that they want independents to be able to vote in their primaries. Here is the text of the new law. See section 163-119.
The bill had been vetoed on August 24, 2023, but the legislature overrode the veto on October 10. The Governor’s veto message complained about other provisions in the bill; the Governor did not express any disapproval for the provision on who can vote in primaries. Thanks to Mike Drucker for this news.
On Monday, October 30, the trial started in a Colorado state trial court in Anderson v Griswold, the case over whether former President Donald Trump should be allowed on the Republican presidential primary ballot next year. See this story. The plaintiffs are presenting evidence about the January 6, 2021 incident at the national Capitol.
On November 5, 2024, Nevada voters will vote on a top-five system. It already passed in November 2022, but in Nevada, constitutional initiatives must pass two elections in a row in order to take effect. The Las Vegas Rview-Journal has this editorial, dated October 29, opposing the initiative. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.
Proponents of a top-four or a top-five system have worked to get their idea adopted in many states, but always, these proposals include use of Ranked Choice Voting in the general election. The reason is obvious. A top-four system without ranked choice voting in the general election could result in a general election race between three Democrats and a Republican, or one Democrat and three Republicans. Such an outcome would not be fair to the party with multiple candidates, because that party’s vote would be split up.
Surprisingly, however, some top-four proponents in Montana are trying to qualify an initiative for top-four that does not include ranked choice voting. They have not yet started collecting signatures. They are temporarily blocked because the Attorney General ruled that their proposal violates the single subject rule for initiatives. On October 26, the initiative proponents asked the Montana Supreme Court to overrule the Attorney General. Montanans for Election Reform Action Fund v Knudsen, OP-23-0634.
The Attorney General’s analysis, claiming the initiative violates the single-subject rule, is included in the court filing, which can be seen here. The Attorney General’s analysis seems weak. The initiative appears to me to encompass a single subject.