On March 7, the Hawaii Senate passed SB 1005, to set up Hawaii’s first government-administered presidential primary. The bill applies to all qualified parties. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news. Now the bill goes to the House.
Reply
New Hampshire HB 363 has a work session in committee set for March 7, at 3 p.m. This is the bill that relaxes the declaration of candidacy deadline from June to July, for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. The New Hampshire declaration of candidacy deadline even applies to independent presidential candidates, so moving the deadline would allow greater flexibility for potential independent presidential candidates.
When a New Hampshire legislative committee sets a work session, that is a sign that the bill is being taken seriously.
On March 7, Texas State Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) introduced SB 1660. It changes the definition of a qualified party from one that got 2% for any statewide race at either of the last five elections, to one that got 10% in any of the last five election. If enacteds, it would remove the Libertarian and Green Parties from the ballot. Senator Hughes is chair of the State Affairs Committee, which will hear the bill. Thanks to Linda Curtis for this news.
The only states with a 10% vote test are Virginia and New Jersey. Alabama has a 20% vote test, but all other vote tests are 5% or below. The median vote test is 2%.
UPDATE: the Republican Party of Texas did not poll as much as 10% for any statewide office in 1912, 1914, 1934, 1938, and 1942.
If enacted, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2023. States in the past that made the definition of a party more difficult have always been careful to provide that the change doesn’t take effect until after the next election, but the Texas bill would remove parties without giving them a chance to meet the new requirement. Examples of the better approach are Indiana in 1980, Kansas in 1984, New Hampshire in 1996, North Carolina in 1948, and New York in both 1935 and 2020.
In 1982, when the Alabama legislature changed the definition of a qualified party from any organized group, to a group that had polled 20%, the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department told Alabama that the new definition could not take effect until after the 1982 election.
On March 6, the New Mexico House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs passed SB 180. It is an omnibus election law bill that doubles the number of signatures for the non-presidential nominees of qualified minor parties, from 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 2%. That will be approximately 15,000 signatures in 2024.
Now the bill goes to the House.
The New York Libertarian and Green Parties are in the process of preparing a cert petition in their ballot access case. COFOE has contributed $1,500 toward the printing costs. COFOE gets all its income from readers of Ballot Access News, print edition. Your support is greatly appreciated.