Pennsylvania’s current deadline for minor party and independent candidate petitions is August 1. HB 544 would move this to the first Tuesday in July. The bill is backed by the state Elections Department, and passed the House in December 2005. It is currently pending in the State Senate committee that handles election law bills.
There is absolutely no justification for this. Pennsylvania’s requirements are plenty difficult enough as it is.
I had hoped we would continue to see a general trend toward liberalization of ballot access laws. Unfortunately, I now believe that as the two major parties fall farther into disrepute, they will legislate more and more stringent requirements as a means of stifling the competition. Hate to sound paranoid and hope that I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.