The New Mexico House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee will hear HB 54 on Friday, January 27, at 8:30 am. This is the bill to let independents choose a primary ballot, without having to join the party.
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On December 15, the Forward Party started its petition in South Carolina.
South Carolina already has two other centrist parties on the ballot, the Independence Party and the Alliance Party.
In November 2022, the No Labels Party submitted its petition to be a qualified party in Ohio for 2023 and 2024. The Secretary of State sent the petition to the counties for verification earlier this month. Because the party submitted almost twice the required number, it is extremely likely the petition is valid.
Because No Labels submitted its petition so early, it won’t be a qualified party in 2025 and 2026, unless it polls at least 3% for president in 2024 (assuming it runs someone for president in 2024), or unless it does another petition in 2025. Ohio law is unique in that, after a party petition is submitted, the number of even-year elections that the party gains qualified status depends on when the petition was submitted, relative to the next even-numbered election. If No Labels had submitted its petition later than November 2023, it would automatically have been on through the November 2026 election.
In November 2022, the Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee for Nebraska Attorney General, Larry Bolinger, polled 30.27% in a two-person race. That was the highest percentage for a statewide Nebraska candidate running outside the two major parties since 1936, when independent George Norris was re-elected to the U.S. Senate with 43.82% of the vote.
On January 20, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled unanimously that if a Vermont town wants to let non-citizens vote in local elections, the State Constitution does not prevent them from doing that. Here is the decision in Ferry v City of Montpelier, 22-AP-125. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.