On June 27, the national Voting Rights office of the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Arkansas, over the number of signatures needed for a new or minor party to get on the ballot. Green Party of Arkansas v Daniels, 4:06-cv-758. The statutory law says a new party needs a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, which would be 24,171 signatures. However, in 1996, a federal court ruled that since Arkansas only requires 10,000 signatures for statewide independent candidates (for office other than president), there is no rational reason for Arkansas to require more than 10,000 signatures for new parties. The state filed an appeal in the 1996 case, but then dropped the appeal, yet refuses to recognize the existence of the 1996 ruling. The new lawsuit will request a court order, forcing the state to obey the 1996 ruling.