Montana Bill to Let Candidates in Non-Partisan Races List a Party on the Ballot

Posted on by February 11, 2023
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Montana State Senator Greg Hertz (R-Polson) has introduced SB 200. It lets candidates for non-partisan office, such as judicial and school board races, list a party affiliation of up to three words, which would appear on the ballot next to their name. Montana does not have registration by party. If this bill passed as written, apparently any partisan label that is no longer than three words would be allowed. The bill does not specify the party name must be the name of a ballot-qualified party.

The bill had a hearing in the Senate State Administration Committee on February 8. The Committee hasn’t acted on the bill yet.

A Mystery Concerning the Forward Party

Posted on by February 11, 2023
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One of the co-founders of the Forward Party, along with Andrew Yang, is former Republican congressmember David Jolly of Florida. Yet the Forward Party still hasn’t qualified as a political party in Florida.

Florida lets any group become a qualified party if it submits a list of its officers and its bylaws. Florida has thirteen qualified parties, more than any other state. Here is the list. For some unknown reason, the Forward Party is not on the list.

A qualified party in Florida is entitled to its own primary, although no primary is actually held unless more than a single candidate files for any particular office.

Oklahoma Bill to Ease Petitions in Lieu of Filing Fee

Posted on by February 10, 2023
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Oklahoma Senator Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City) has introduced SB 288. It eases the petition in lieu of the filing fee. Current law requires a petition of 2% of the number of registered voters for candidates who choose not to pay filing fees. For statewide office, this is 44,502 signatures. The bill would lower the number of signatures to 4,000 for important statewide office, and 2,000 for the less important statewide offices and U.S. House.