Michigan Bill Introduced

On August 10, Michigan state rep. Leon Drolet introduced HB5082, which would relax the law concerning the deadline for a qualified minor party to certify the name of its presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the Secretary of State. Current law requires that the names be certified within one business day after the national convention ends. The bill would say that the parties must certify the names no later than 60 days before the general election. Last year, the Libertarian Party failed to certify the names of its national ticket to the Secretary of State within one day after the close of the convention, because the state party officers were driving home to Michigan from Atlanta, Georgia, a trip which took longer than one day. However, the Michigan Secretary of State overlooked this technical transgression.


Comments

Michigan Bill Introduced — 6 Comments

  1. This is a good sign. Perhaps, more third parties will try to obtain ballot access.

  2. Rep. Drolett, a libertarian-Republican, historically has shown empathy for third parties in Michigan. Several years ago, he spearheaded legislation that changed (and subsequently made easier) requirements for third parties retaining ballot access status. Prior to that legislation, the third party candidate listed highest (usually Gubenatorial or Congressional candidates in mid-terms elections) on the ballot had to achieve 1% of the number of votes cast for the Michigan Secretary of State in the previous election cycle. This was misleading for third parties as a whole because partisan candidates lower on their tickets (i.e. State Representative candidates) typically received well over 1% while the top of the ticket candidate often received less. The party would then have to petition again (in the “Great Lakes State” this means roughly 32,000 signatures within a 6-month time period), which is both dramatically costly and time-consuming. Drolett, in any case, again shows himself to be friendly towards third parties and the competitiveness and voter choice they bring to Michigan elections.

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