The Pennsylvania primary for president and all other office is scheduled for April 23. Although many legislators want an earlier presidential primary, SB 224, the bill to move the primaries for 2024 to March, has not made any headway. The legislature is not in session but returns in late September. When it returns, it will be concentrating on the budget. Most observers do not expect SB 224 to pass.
Earlier this year, the New York legislature passed a controversial bill, moving most town and county office elections from November of odd years, to November of even years. The bill has not yet been signed into law.
This story says election officials are worried that the bill, if signed, will create over-sized ballots in even years. The reason for the bill was to save money, but the law still requires odd year elections for judicial races, city offices, and these county offices: clerks, sheriffs, and district attorneys. The elections for those offices couldn’t be moved without changing the state constitution.
On June 30, the Delaware Senate defeated HB 215 by a vote of 3-18. It had passed the House on June 15 by a vote of 38-3. It would have moved the non-presidential primary from September to April.
On July 23, Spain held a parliamentary election. In the Congress of Deputies, which has 350 seats, eleven parties won at least one seat. In the Senate, which has 208 seats, five parties won seats. Spain uses proportional representation. See this wikipedia article about the election.
C. T. Weber, a long-time leader of the Peace & Freedom Party of California, has this op-ed in L.A. Progressive. He asks California Governor Gavin Newsom, who holds himself out as a democracy advocate, to support proportional representation.
