New Mexico Bill that Restricts Ballot Access Has Hearing on Monday, March 6

Posted on by March 5, 2023
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The New Mexico House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee will hear SB 180a on Monday, March 6. This is the bill that doubles the number of signatures for the non-presidential nominees of qualified minor parties, from 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 2%. The bill has already passed the Senate. The Green Party is working to try to delete that provision from the bill. The bill is an omnibus election law bill with many unrelated election law provisions.

New Mexico is the only state that requires the nominees of qualified parties to submit a petition in order to be on the general election ballot.

No Labels Party Has Enough Valid Signatures in North Carolina

Posted on by March 5, 2023
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According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, the No Labels Party now has 14,502 valid signatures on its petition for party status in 2024. The law requires 13,757. However, in North Carolina, new parties are not certified for the ballot, even if they have enough valid signatures, until the State Board of Elections meets and votes on the petition validity.

Kansas Bill for a Presidential Primary

Posted on by March 4, 2023
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The Kansas Senate Committee on Federal & State Affairs has introduced SB 290, which would re-establish a presidential primary in Kansas. The bill would also move the non-presidential primary from August to early May. The presidential primary would be in early May as well. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for this news.

North Dakota Committee Hearing Set on Bill that Restricts Initiatives

Posted on by March 4, 2023
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The North Dakota House State and Local Government Committee will hear SCR 4013 on Thursday, March 9, at 10:15 am. This is the proposed constitutional amendment to make it far more difficult for statewide initiatives.

The bill has already passed the Senate. It says no one may circulate an initiative petition who has not resided in the state 120 days before the first signature is collected. It says no circulator may be paid. It increases the number of signatures for constitutional amendments from 4% of the population, to 5%. It says constitutional initiatives must pass twice, first in the primary election and then in the following general election.

An earlier version of the bill said initiatives to change the constitution must pass by 67% of the popular vote, but that has been deleted.

The part of the bill banning any payment of any type to circulators violates the U.S. Supreme Court decision Meyer v Grant (1988), which was a unanimous decision.

Libertarian National Committee Sues Virginia Resident for Trademark Violation

Posted on by March 3, 2023
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On March 2, the Libertarian National Committee filed a federal lawsuit against Robert K. Dean, a Virginia resident who has been active in a group called the Tidewater Libertarian Party. Libertarian National Committee v Dean, e.d., Virginia, 3:23cv-155.

Here is the Complaint. It says the Tidewater Libertarian Party is not part of the Libertarian Party of Virginia. This lawsuit will be interesting, because it is not clear that the Lanham Act, the federal law involving trademarks, applies to political parties.