To mitigate the spread of COVID-19 due to in-person voting, Gov. Janet Mills issued Executive Order 39.

Executive Order 39 postpones the primary from June 9 to Tuesday, July 14.

The order also allows applications for absentee ballots to be made in writing or in person up to and including the day of the election without specifying a reason.

The new application process permits voters to obtain and return the absentee ballot before the polls close on July 14.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Steve Adler signed an additional emergency order on April 13.

The new order suspends all deadlines imposed by city code, ordinance, rule, or other regulation until May 30.

Under Section 7 of the order, the deadline for all lobbyist quarterly activity reports has been extended from May 1 to May 30.

No late fees will be accrued for failure to file prior to May 30. 

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson has requested the Board of Elections postpone the special elections currently scheduled for May 19.

The elections are to fill two vacancies on the Board of Aldermen.

The death of Ward 4 Alderman Sam Moore on February 25, and the resignation of Ward 12 Alderman Larry Arnowitz on March 3 caused, the two vacancies.

The Maryland Board of Elections has announced there will be three in-person voting centers for the 7th Congressional District special general election on April 28.

The centers are for voters who are unable to cast their ballots by mail.

One voting center will be located in each local jurisdiction: Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Howard County.

The board is recommending all 7th district voters who can vote by mail do so.

Voting by mail is the safest way to vote.

However, concerns over safeguarding the voting rights of those unable to vote by mail led to the decision to open the three in-person voting centers.

The local elections boards will select the location of the in-person voting centers.

Locations will be announced no later than April 20.

The Kentucky General Assembly’s 2020 session will reconvene on April 14, one day earlier than previously announced.

Lawmakers will consider overriding vetoes cast by Gov. Andy Beshear.

The governor’s time to veto recently passed bills expires on April 13.

Lawmakers also have the option to convene on April 15, the latest possible day they can meet in regular session this year under state constitution guidelines.

The Legislative Council of Iowa met virtually to suspend the legislative session until April 30.

The council makes rules when the legislative body isn’t in session.

The suspension comes due to concerns over the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the state.

Lawmakers have not passed a budget for next year and the current fiscal year ends June 30, but a bill passed in March before the session’s suspension extends this year’s budget through the end of August.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

On April 8, legislative leaders announced the General Assembly is extending the postponement of the session until April 23.

The State Capitol, Legislative Office Building, and State House will remain closed during the postponement.

This does not immediately affect lobbyist reporting.

The Rhode Island General Assembly announced the postponement of the legislative session has been extended for another week due to COVID-19.

All legislative sessions and committee hearings for the week of April 13 to April 17 have been canceled.

Both chambers of the General Assembly are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, April 21.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has issued an advisory encouraging people subject to lobbying registration and reporting requirements to continue to make the best efforts to timely file all legally required reports and statements.

However, it may be difficult for some to file statements and reports given the shelter-in-place order and other issues caused by the pandemic.

If circumstances caused by COVID-19 inhibit the filing of a lobbying report or statement, the filer should communicate these issues to the Office of the Secretary of State and document all attempts to file and the issues faced.

While quarterly lobbying reports are filed electronically, the law requires certain other statements be filed on paper with an original signature.

Restrictions imposed to fight the spread of COVID-19 may make the logistics of filing documents on paper with original signatures difficult or even impossible.

To the extent this is the case, people required to file lobbying forms on paper with original signatures are encouraged to make use of digital and electronic options for filing reports to ensure timely filing.

Paper statements with original signatures will need to be filed when feasible.

If a person with lobbying filing requirements makes best efforts to comply with the Political Reform Act’s lobbying registration and reporting rules but is unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FPPC will consider this a strong mitigating factor in determining whether an enforcement action against the person is appropriate.

The Board of Ethics is extending the first quarterly report filing deadline from April 20 to June 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First quarter reports cover the period from January 1 to March 31 and must be filed even if there was no activity.

In addition, 2020 mandatory online lobbyist training has not been posted and the training deadline has been extended past June 30.

Due to continued concerns over COVID-19, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has postponed the May 19 presidential primary election and the state’s general primary until June 9.

The voter registration deadline for the June 9 election will be May 11 and early voting will begin on May 18.

Further, moving the primary election to June 9 will move the primary runoff to August 11.

Puerto Rico delayed its Democratic presidential primary election for a second time as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

The Democratic presidential primary election was originally scheduled for March 29.

Democratic Party leadership postponed the election until April 26.

Then on April 2, the Democratic presidential primary was postponed indefinitely.

However, the island’s Republican presidential primary, as well as two major local party primaries (the pro-statehood New Progressive Party and the left-leaning Popular Democratic Party) are scheduled for June 7.

The Lobby Registration Commission is extending the first period activity report filing deadline from May 31 to July 15.

First period activity reports cover the period from November 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020.

Any late fees imposed for reports filed June 1 to July 15 will be waived, but reports filed after July 15 will be subject to late fees.

The Lobby Registration Commission staff will continue to work from home in compliance with Executive Order 20-18, issued by Gov. Eric Holcomb to extend Indiana’s stay-at-home order until April 20.

The Colorado General Assembly tentatively plans to return from recess on May 18.

Lawmakers set the date during an April 8 meeting at the closed Capitol.

They also indicated it may change depending on the status of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

The General Assembly has flexibility to extend the session beyond the original May 6 adjournment date.

The timeline to resume is guided by the need to finish the state budget.

The House and Senate did not put an end date on the legislative term and continue to refine the agenda for the remainder of the session.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.