On July 7, the Iowa Republican Party determined that its presidential caucus next year will be January 15. By contrast, in 2020, it was February 3. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
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The Idaho Republican Party is starting to plan a presidential caucus in March 2024. The legislature adjourned earlier this year without restoring the presidential primaries. Democrats are also planning a caucus. The Democratic Party hopes the legislature will restore primaries when it convenes in January 2024, but that is cutting it close.
On July 6, the Maine Senate passed LD 769, which eases the definition of a qualified party. The bill had passed the House last month. The old definition of a qualified party was a group that had 5,000 registrants if it was in its first four years of legal existence, but afterwards had to have 10,000 registrants.
The bill eases that to simply define a qualified party as a group with 5,000 registrants, whether it is new or old.
On July 6, the most populous county in Texas, Harris County (which is coterminous with Houston) filed a lawsuit in state court against SB 1750, a bill that passed this year that deprives the county of control over election administration. The county cites the State Constitution, which forbids laws that single out just parts of the state. Here is the brief. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link. The case is Harris County v State of Texas.
The Libertarian Party of Canada was founded on Saturday, July 7, 1973, by Bruce Evoy of Toronto and seven other people.
Here are the party’s website and Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_of_Canada
Bruce Evoy, who was well known for his dramatic performances of Patrick Henry and other American patriots at US Libertarian Party conventions, passed away on July 8, 1998, 25 years ago tomorrow, at the age of 75.