The Maine regular session of the legislature ended on March 30, but the legislature convened in special session on April 5. Two bills that improve ballot access are likely to be considered in the special session. They have already passed the policy committees. They are LD 769, which eases the definition of a qualified party; and LD 1320, which lets independent voters sign petitions to place candidates on a primary ballot.

LD 769 eliminates the requirement that after a qualified party has been on the ballot for four years, it must increase its registration from 5,000 to 10,000. Instead, both new parties and old ones alike would need 5,000 registrants.

Jacobin has this in-depth article about No Labels, written by Andrew Perez. The title of the piece is inflammatory but the article itself is fact-based, detailed, and explains why No Labels need not reveal its donors at this time.

On April 6, the Delaware Senate passed SB 57, which provides that if a presidential elector does not vote for the nominee of his or her party, that elector is replaced with someone else who will. The bill does not specify whether the reference to a party presidential nominee refers to the national party, or the state party. In the past there have been instances when a state party nominated someone for president who was not the person who won that party’s national convention nomination. For instance, in 1968, the Alabama Democratic Party’s presidential nominee was George Wallace, whereas the national party nominee was Hubert Humphrey.