On February 6, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s Elections Advisory Commission issued its ideas for improving election laws. The Report is here. The Report suggests lowering the number of signatures for minor party and independent candidate petitions somewhat. Existing law says statewide petitions need signatures of 1% of the number of registered voters, and district and county petitions need 5% of the number of registered voters. The Report suggests keeping the same percentages, but changing the base from the number of registered voters, to the number of votes cast in the last presidential election.

If that recommendation were in force now, Georgia would require 39,245 signatures for statewide office this year instead of 50,334 (for new parties) and 51,845 (for independent presidential candidates). For a U.S. House race, in the average district, the number of signatures would decline from 18,516 signatures to 14,016. This would leave Georgia with the second-highest requirements for U.S. House, and North Carolina would then be the most difficult for U.S. House.

The Report also recommends expanding the petition exception for incumbents who first won as an independent or minor party candidate. Currently, the law says independent or minor party incumbents who submitted the petition the first time they ran, and who got elected, don’t need to petition if they run for re-election. That kindly exception is no help for incumbents who first got elected as independent or minor party candidates in special elections. No candidate ever needs a petition in a special election. So, the law would be tweaked to include independent and minor party incumbents who first got elected in a special election. The legislature’s only independent incumbent, Rusty Kidd, would benefit this year if this change were made.

The Report also covers issues other than ballot access. It recommends letting incarcerated persons who have not yet been convicted receive absentee ballots, regardless of whether they are in jail in their home county or another county. Currently, the law only allows absentee ballots to be sent if the person is in jail in a county other than his or her home county. The Report recommends letting the absentee ballot be mailed, regardless of where the jail is. The ACLU has been suing Georgia over this anomaly. The Report also suggests deleting the requirement that party officers be elected in party primaries. The Report also suggests letting voters register on-line. Thanks to David Shock for the link.