On April 24, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed SB 379, which moves the 2024 primary for all office from April to the second Tuesday in May. The bill only pertains to 2024, not to years beyond that.
Reply
On April 26, a settlement was arranged in the federal lawsuit Gaughen v Dauphin County, m.d., 1:23cv-77. The case had been filed in Pennsylvania earlier this year, over the problem that Dauphin County officials had barred candidates from collecting signatures to get on the ballot in a public park. The county’s excuse had been that when the family that deeded the land to the public, it had specified that no political activity could be allowed in the park.
The plaintiffs were candidates of the Keystone Party, which did get on the ballot for statewide office in Pennsylvania last year. The county decided to settle the lawsuit, and the plaintiffs received $91,000. Here is the brief filed by the plaintiffs earlier this year. It can serve as a resource for individuals in the future who file similar lawsuits. Thanks to Andy Jacobs for this news.
The Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger has this editorial, advocating that the New Jersey legislature legalize fusion, the ability of two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate.
On Thursday, April 27, the Montana House Administration Committee passed SB 565, the bill to drastically increase ballot access restrictions on minor parties and independent candidates. A different version of the bill had already passed the Senate. It increases the presidential independent petition from 5,000 signatures to 15,000 signatures. It increases the petition for a newly-qualifying party from 5,000 signatures to 5% of the number of voters who voted in the last election, which would be 30,604 signatures. It makes the same increase for non-presidential independent candidates.
It raises the number of votes needed for a party to remain ballot-qualified from 5% of the winning gubernatorial candidate’s vote, to 5% of the total number of votes cast.
It makes the distribution requirement for the petition to qualify a party much more difficult.
The Committee chair had said on April 26 that he would not hold a meeting on April 27. But then the Speaker of the House ordered him to hold the meeting, so the meeting was conducted with no public notice, in violation of the rules. No opponent of the bill was present. It is known that the vote was 10-8, with two Republicans and all the Democrats voting against the bill. UPDATE: here is a news story about the committee vote, although it erroneously says the petition to create a new party requires 5% of the winner’s vote in the last gubernatorial election. Actually the law requires 5,000 signatures.
Two New Jersey primary candidates have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case concerning slogans that appear on New Jersey primary ballots. Mazo v Way, 22-1033. The issue is a 1944 New Jersey law that restricts the content of ballot labels in primary elections. New Jersey, unlike any other state, permits primary candidates to choose a label of up to six words that conveys the candidate’s political stands. But New Jersey forbids those slogans from containing the name of any individual unless that individual consents to have his or her name used. Also forbidden is any mention of a New Jersey corporation, unless the corporation gives consent. The lower courts upheld the restriction.
Here is the cert petition. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for this news.