On June 8, the Maine legislature defeated LD 545, which would have made it easier for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot. The bill had passed the House on second reading on June 7, but on the same day the Senate had voted against it. On June 8 the House acceded to the Senate’s wishes and the bill died.

A member of any qualified party running for statewide office in Maine needs 2,000 signatures of party members. Registered independents can’t sign. The law does not take into account the fact that some qualified parties have hundreds of thousands of members, whereas other qualified parties are much smaller. The bill would have provided that a member of a small qualified party needs 750 signatures instead of 2,000.