The Washington, D.C. city council is responsible for writing the District’s election laws. The city council almost passed a bill in 2003 replacing mandatory petitions with filing fees, but then it seemed the idea had been forgotten. However, someone on the city council has revived the idea, and staff for the city council is researching the idea.
If the District replaced petitions with filing fees for general election ballot access (especially presidential ballot access), that would be a boon for minor parties. The D.C. presidential petition for the general election is one of the most difficult in the nation. It is the only petition that George Wallace didn’t attempt in 1968; it is the only petition that Pat Buchanan didn’t attempt in 2000; and the Constitution Party has never attempted it. It requires a petition signed by 1% of the number of registered voters. That is more than twice as difficult as the median petition requirement of the 50 states, for presidential candidates.
Governor Wallace did try to get on the ballot in D.C. during 1968. According to “Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report”, Wallace needed 3,600 signatures to get on the ballot and he only got 3,000. To allow for signatures that were tossed out, he probably would have needed over 5,000 signatures to qualify.