Twenty-one Democratic state representatives in Washington state have introduced HB 1592, which would use ranked choice voting in presidential primaries.
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On February 13, the New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 73, which lets independent voters choose a primary ballot without having to join that party. It now goes to the Senate floor.
Four North Dakota legislators have introduced SCR 4013, which, if passed, would virtually end constitutional initiatives in the state. It says amendments to alter the constitution must pass by 67% of the popular vote. It bans paying circulators of constitutional amendment petitions. It says circulators must have lived in the state for 120 days before the first signature is collected. And it raises the number of signatures for constitutional initiatives from 4% of the population, to 5%.
The sponsors are Senators Janne Myrdal and David Hogue, and Representatives Claire Cory and Mike Lefor. All are Republicans. Lefor and Hogue are the Majority Leaders of their respective chambers.
In 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws that ban paying petitioners, in Grant v Meyer. The decision was unanimous.
Arkansas State Senator Everett Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) has introduced SJR 4. It would provide for a top-two system for all elective office in the state. For nonpartisan elections, it would have the effect of putting party labels on the ballot next to the names of candidates for non-partisan office.
The proposal would amend the Constitution, so if the legislature were to pass it, the voters would then vote on it.
Unlike the top-two systems in California and Washington, it does not require party labels that indicate a candidate’s “party preference.” It simply says the partisan label would match the candidate’s affiliation. This would put the measure in some legal jeopardy if it were to become law. Here is the text.
The Colorado bill that would greatly injure ballot access for qualified minor parties will be heard in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 16, at 1:30 p.m. It had originally been set for that date, but then taken off the calendar by the sponsors. But now it is back on the schedule.
Before 1998, Colorado had a very difficult definition of qualified party, a group that had polled 10% for Governor. This made it virtually impossible for a minor party to be ballot-qualified. But the harm was not so great back then because the petitions for the nominees of unqualified parties were so easy. The statewide offices needed 300 signatures and were not due until September, although that was raised in 1973.
But having to submit separate petitions for each nominee was nevertheless somewhat burdensome, so in 1998 Colorado’s minor parties persuaded the legislature to create two tiers of qualified party. Large parties continued to nominate by primary; small ones could nominate by convention. The new definition of a qualified minor party was easy: a group with 1,000 registered members, or which had polled 1% of the vote for any statewide race at either of the last two elections. The Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Parties became ballot-qualified when the new law went into effect. This model election law is now threatened; the new bill would eliminate the ability of qualified minor parties to nominate by convention, and would force their members to submit difficult petitions to qualify for a primary. If SB 23-101 passes, the number of minor party candidates on the Colorado ballot will plunge sharply.