On December 23, 2022, an Alaska state trial court issued in opinion in Kowalke v Eastman, 3AN-22-07404. It says that Representative David Eastman is not disqualified from serving in the legislature, even though he attended the January 6, 2021 event at the national capitol and even though he is a member of Oath Keepers. The ruling says Eastman did not have the intent to overthrow the government.

The lawsuit had been based on Alaska Constitution Article 12, section 4. Here is the opinion.

That part of the Alaska Constitution says “No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party or organization or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of the State shall be qualified to hold any public office of trust or profit under this constitution.”

This newspaper story says there are more than 200 election law bills pending in the Texas legislature. Unfortunately, there are no bills to ease ballot access, which is among the worst in the nation.

But there is a bill to add the statewide initiative process, SJR 25. The sponsor is Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas). Thanks to Linda Curtis for that news.

Arkansas SB 277 has been introduced. It has four Senate sponsors and 54 House sponsors, and is backed by the Secretary of State. It lowers the number of signatures for a new or previously unqualified party from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, to exactly 10,000 signatures. It moves the petition deadline to three weeks before the primary. In presidential years the Arkansas primary is in March; in midterm years it is in May.

It permits the petition to circulate starting January 1 of any odd year, which gives proponents approximately fourteen months. The old law required the petition to be completed in three months.

This bill exists because the old law was held unconstitutional last year.