On May 3, the Maine Joint Committee on State and Local Government passed LD 545 by a vote of 9-4. This bill lowers the number of signatures for a member of a small qualified party to get on the primary ballot of that party for Governor. The existing law requires 2,000 signatures of party members, no matter how many or how few members that party has. Only party members may sign. The original bill changed this to the lower of 2,000 signatures, or 2% of the number of registered voters in the party.

The committee amended the bill. Now it requires the lower of 2,000 signatures or 2% of the number of registered voters in the party, but no matter how the percentage works out, the candidate would still always need a minimum of 750 signatures.

The other Maine ballot access improvement bill, LD 142, also is making headway. This bill eases the requirement that a party must have municipal caucuses in each county in the state, in the spring of even-numbered years. Maine has 16 counties. The original bill said a party needed such caucuses in at least 12 counties, but the bill is being amended to require meetings in 14 counties. It will probably receive a vote in the House on May 5.