On April 5, the Hawaii House Finance Committee passed SB 1005 unanimously. It sets up a presidential primary. The bill has already passed the State Senate. Hawaii is one of the few states that has never before had a government-administered presidential primary.
On March 21, the California State Appeals Court, 4th district, division one, issued an opinion in Boydston v Padilla, D080921. It is 24 pages long and can be seen here. It says that independent voters have no constitutional right to vote in partisan presidential primaries. Some California parties do permit independent voters to vote in their presidential primaries, but others do not. Each party decides for itself before a presidential primary is held. The plaintiffs argued that independent voters must be permitted to vote in any party’s primary, regardless of that party’s wishes.
Generally the California Democratic Party permits independent voters to vote in its presidential primary, whereas the California Republican Party does not, although it did permit them to do so in 2004.
On April 5, the Forward Party restated its position on the presidential election in 2024. It will not run anyone for president. See the press release here. Thanks to Frank Morano for the link.
On March 23, the Idaho legislature passed HB 138, which moves the presidential primary from March to late May.
On April 3, the Kansas House defeated HB 2053, which would have reinstated presidential primaries in Kansas. The main reason for its defeat was the election-administration cost. Kansas will therefore continue to use caucuses to select delegates to major party presidential conventions.
