NEW JERSEY INCREASES PETITION HURDLES: On January 30th, the New Jersey legislature passed AB 5117, which increases petition requirements for minor party and independent candidates, and also increases them for candidates seeking a place on a primary ballot. On February 3, Governor Phil Murphy (D) signed the bill. The bill had passed on a party line vote, with all Democrats voting “yes” and all Republicans voting “no.” The new general election petition requirement is 2,000 signatures for statewide office (up from 800), and District Petitions go from 100 signatures to 250 signatures. The bill takes effect immediately. New Jersey holds elections for all state office in odd years, including 2025.
NO NORTH DAKOTA VOTER REGISTRATION: For decades, North Dakota has been the only state without voter registration. HB 1287 had been introduced this year to create voter registration. However, on February 14, the bill was defeated in the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee. The Secretary of State had testified against it. He said voter registration would be expensive, bad for voters, and unnecessary. When people vote in North Dakota at the polls, they simply show an ID that has an address.
BALLOT ACCEESS BILLS
Alaska: HB 4 would restore write-in space for president at the general election. Alaska had always had write-in space for president until 2021, when the state started using ranked choice voting. The bill that implemented ranked choice voting (RCV) had removed write-in space from the ballot for president, probably because it was thought that write-ins are not compatible with ranked choice voting. But there is now better awareness that there is no conflict.
Arizona: SB 2844 would provide that if two or more independent candidates file for a single office, they should face off in a non-partisan primary in August, and only the winner could appear on the November ballot. The bill does not pertain to presidential elections, however.
Illinois: SB 2158 would convert the state to a top-two system. The bill includes presidential elections. In the Illinois presidential primaries in 2016, the top two candidates were Hillary Clinton, with 1,039,555 votes, and Bernie Sanders with 999,494. Trump placed a distant third with 562,464. So under the terms of the bill, the only two candidates on the general election ballot in Illinois would have been Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
New Hampshire: HB714 would establish a Top-Two Primary.
New York: A90 would establish a top-two system. The bill says Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) should be used in the primary to select the two candidates who would run in November. The sponsor is Assembly Member Robert Carroll (D-Brooklyn, 44th District).
Oregon: HB 3166 would set up a top-five system, but without using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). If the bill were to become law, there might be general elections with four Democrats and one Republican on the ballot for a single office (or vice versa) which would obviously be unfair to the party with multiple candidates.
South Carolina: HB 3640 would establish a top-two system. SB 205 would add write-in space for president to the general election ballot. The state has only had government printed ballots since 1950. On those ballots, it has always permitted write-ins for all offices (in the general election) except for presdent.
Texas: HB 1406 would abolish runoff primaries and replace them with ranked choice voting (RCV). If the bill became law, independent can idates would have more time to petition, because under current law they can’t begin to petition until all primaries are over.
ORDER OF CANDIDATES ON BALLOTS
Arizona: on February 4, the House unanimously passed HB 2045. Current Law puts all the nominees of the party that won the most recent gubernatorial election on the top spot. The bill would change that, to provide for rotation, so that each party’s nominees would have the top spot in an equal number of recincts. However, independent candidates would not be helped and would always be below the nominees of each party.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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