The National Conference of State Legislatures has this useful chart, showing when each state’s 2015 legislative session starts and when each is expected to end.
Those working for improved ballot access for alternative political parties and independent candidates might find this chart to be useful in helping push forward ballot access improvement legislation in many states. A few relevant comments from Ballot Access News publisher Richard Winger on past IPR articles:
1. The Missouri legislature in 1989 was incredibly hostile to ballot access reform. Our bill was presented in committee in the Senate. After the witnesses in favor spoke, Senator Webster said, “Only fruits and nuts are interested in this.” And no one else said one word. No member of the committee moved the bill. But, we kept re-introducing it, and finally in 1993 it was signed into law. The LP hasn’t had to petition in Missouri ever since. The Constitution Party is also safely on the ballot there.
2. 26 states have made it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified in the last 30 years: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. We made all this progress not by lawsuits, but by asking state legislators to do this. We are insane, crazy, nuts, if we don’t continue doing this. And now is the time when legislators are deciding which bills to introduce. Many states have strict deadlines for introducing bills.
3. It will be easier if we get some ballot access laws changed in 2015. I think Libertarians and others are working on this in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, DC, Georgia, Illinois (I hope), Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts (I hope), Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.