The Independent View: Electionline Weekly Dec-22-2016

Legislative Updates

Alabama: Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) is planning to introduce a bill that would bring Aarly Voting to The Yellowhammer State. Ford’s bill would require Probate Judges to set up an Early Voting location in each County, which would be open at least five days in the two weeks leading up to the Election.

Connecticut: Rep. William Tong (D-Stanford) has committed to introducing a bill to allow Early Voting in The Nutmeg State as soon as the session begins in January.

Florida: Rep. Janet Cruz (D-Tampa) has filed Legislation that will allow voters to fix mismatching signatures on their Vote-by-Mail ballots so they can be counted. It would require Supervisors and their staff to allow submission of an affidavit to cure signature discrepancies.

Maryland: The Aberdeen City Council has finally decided on a way to determine Tied Elections. Under a unanimous vote, the Council approved a Charter Amendment that will force Tied Elections to a Runoff Election. The Amendment is the result of a Tied Election 13 months ago that had no way of being resolved.

Montana: Rep. Kathy Swanson has introduced House Bill 86 which would allow High School students to serve as Election Judges.

North Carolina: During a Special Session, the North Carolina Legislature approved a bill, which outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory signed, that creates a single Board that oversees the State’s Ethics, Lobbying and Elections Administration. According to WRAL, Republican sponsors said the law is aimed at creating a Bipartisan Panel to oversee all the decisions, but the eight-member Board would need six votes to take any action.

Legal Updates

Florida: The Florida State Supreme Court has schedule arguments on March 7th on a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would automatically restore Voting Rights for most felons. A group known as Floridians for a Fair Democracy has submitted 71,207 Petition signatures to the State, enough to trigger Supreme Court review of the proposed ballot wording. If the Supreme Court signs off, the group then would need to collect hundreds of thousands of additional signatures to put the Measure on the ballot.

Missouri: The St. Louis City Attorney has “uncovered important evidence” in a Voter Fraud investigation into the August Primary and has turned all the evidence over to the U.S. Attorney’s office.