Updates on ballot access legislation: OK, OR, MD, NH

Oklahoma Ballot Access Bill Passes House Committee Unanimously

On February 18, the Oklahoma House Elections & Ethics Committee passed HB 2181 by a vote of 7-0. The bill lowers the petition for a newly-qualifying party from 5% of the last vote cast, to 1%.

Oregon Likely to be First State to Put Eligible Voters on Registration Rolls Automatically

The Oregon Secretary of State is backing HB 2177, which provides that every adult citizen known to the Motor Vehicle office, who is not already registered to vote, will get a letter saying the individual will be automatically registered to vote unless the individual responds that he or she doesn’t wish to be registered to vote. The letter will also give such individuals a chance to choose a party affiliation. Individuals who don’t respond will then be automatically registered as independent voters.

North Dakota doesn’t have voter registration, so in a sense North Dakota already has this policy. But aside from North Dakota, if the bill passes, Oregon will be the first state in which individuals don’t need to do anything at all to become registered, as long as they already have a drivers license or a state ID card.

Not mentioned in the BAN article is that this legislation would make it a lot easier to qualify voters for the purpose of getting a valid signature on initiatives, party qualifying petitions, and independent candidate qualifying petitions. While Oregon would join only North Dakota among US States in not requiring separate paperwork for vote registration, it is common in many other countries.

Maryland Ballot Access Bill Introduced

Maryland Delegate David Moon (D-Montgomery County) has introduced HB 626. It lowers the number of registered voters needed for a party to remain ballot-qualified from 1% of the state total (about 40,000 members) to exactly 10,000 members. If the bill were to pass, the Libertarian and Green Parties would probably remain on the ballot indefinitely, instead of having to re-petition every four years.

Even though the Libertarian Party got over 1% of the gubernatorial vote in November 2014, that only puts it on the ballot for 2016. Then, in 2016, if it doesn’t poll as much as 1% for president, it would go off the ballot, unless the party meets the registration test, which the bill would ease. Thanks to Brian Bittner for this news.

New Hampshire Ballot Access Bill Defeated in Committee

On February 17, the New Hampshire House Election Law Committee defeated HB 665, which would have lowered the number of signatures for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. Thanks to Darryl Perry for this news.