On January 26, the Michigan Senate passed SB 13 by 20-18. It moves the presidential primary from the second Tuesday in March to the fourth Tuesday in February. Democrats voted for the bill and Republicans voted against it. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
Arizona Representative Jennifer Pawlik (D-Chandler) has introduced HB 2153, to let independent voters choose a presidential primary ballot. Arizona already lets independents vote in non-presidential primaries, but not presidential primaries.
New Hampshire Representative Joseph Sweeney (R-Salem) has introduced HB 115, to move the non-presidential primary from September to the second Tuesday in June. The bill has several co-sponsors. Sweeney is the state Republican Party’s Executive Director.
Sweeney has also introduced HB 333, to move the primary to March. That bill also has several co-sponsors.
New Hampshire Senator Regina Birdsell (R-Hampstead) has introduced SB 133, to move the primary to the second Tuesday in May. The bill has several co-sponsors.
Two Democratic members of the Texas legislature have introduced SB 95 and HB 237, which would provide that Texas join the National Popular Vote compact for electing presidents. They are Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas, and Representative Vikki Goodwin of Austin.
New York State Senator James Skoufis (D-Newburgh) has introduced SB 438, which would provide that if a presidential elector “disobeys”, he or she is deemed to have resigned, and is replaced on the spot. The bill is not worded very clearly, because it talks about the presidential nominee of the party, but doesn’t specify whether it is the national party nominee or the state party nominee. Once in a while a rift in a political party results in a state party having a presidential nominee different than the national convention nominee.
The identical bill in the Assembly, AB 928, is introduced by Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D-Newburgh).
