On June 10, the Maine legislature gave final approval to LD 1041, which revises how a qualified party remains on the ballot. The bill will soon be forwarded to the Governor, who has 10 days to sign or veto it, not counting Sundays.

Existing law requires a party to poll 5% at either of the last two elections, for the office at the top of the ticket (Governor or President). The bill replaces that with the requirement that a party have 10,000 registered members who voted at the last election. Currently, 10,000 is 1.06% of the number of registered voters in Maine.