On March 30, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony on SB 2532, which doubles the number of signatures for independent candidates to get on the ballot, and also doubles the filing fees for all types of candidates for federal, state, and county office. The Committee hasn’t voted yet.

Eleven witnesses testified against the bill. No one testified in favor of the bill. The hearing lasted for 25 minutes. No Senator asked any question of any witness. The witnesses included six Libertarians, one officer of a group that assists independent voters, and four other witnesses representing themselves. One can watch at this link. Start at the 52-minute mark; the hearing ends at the one hour and seventeen minute mark.

Here is a copy of the bill.

On March 30, the Arizona Democratic Party sued the Secretary of State to force him to remove No Labels Party from the ballot. The lawsuit is filed in state court. Arizona Democratic Party v No Labels and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Superior Court, Maricopa County, cv2023-004832.

The Arizona law says when a party petitions for a place on the ballot, it must submit the affidavits of ten Arizona voters who represent the party. The purpose of this law is so that if the party qualifies, the Secretary of State knows who the party officers are. The Democratic Party says that No Labels submitted its ten affidavits too early in the process. It says the ten are not suppose to file until after the petition is complete. Here is the Complaint.

The press stories about this lawsuit are not accurate. They say the case involves whether No Labels must file certain federal campaign finance documents. Although the Complaint discusses No Labels relative to federal campaign finance laws, it does not actually allege that the party should be removed from the Arizona ballot because of anything relating to federal campaign finance laws.

Grant Tudor and Beau Tremitiere have published a 72-page study of how the U.S. could switch to proportional representation. No change in the U.S. Constitution would be required for make the U.S. House a somewhat proportional body. Instead, congress merely need pass a law, eliminating the requirement for single-member districts and implementing a plan somewhat like HR 3863 from the last session of congress. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.