Florida has the highest filing fees in the nation. A Florida candidate for either house of Congress running in a party primary must pay almost $10,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that states must have an alternative to the filing fee, at least for candidates who can’t afford the fee. Florida’s alternative to the fee is a petition signed by 1% of the registered voters. This alternate procedure has been in the law since 1974 (although it has been changed in various ways over the years). No one has ever used it for statewide office, until now. Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek, who is running for U.S. Senate, is about to submit at least 112,476 valid signatures to avoid paying the filing fee. That number is 1% of the number of registered voters in Florida as of October 2008. See this story. Meek probably spent more than $10,000 to obtain these signatures, but the tactic is seen as a means to obtain voter interest in his candidacy. Meek’s campaign says it will be submitting over 130,000 raw signatures. If the petition does not have 112,476 signatures, it is entirely useless. Unlike California’s petition in lieu of filing fee, in which in lieu signatures can be used to reduce the fee on a proportionate basis, the Florida in lieu petition is either totally successful or has no legal effect whatsoever. Thanks to Ken Rudin’s Political Junkie for the link.

Although Kendrick is running in the Democratic primary, the law says any registered voter, regardless of affiliation, may sign the in lieu petition.