See this story for the melodramatic story of how a Pennsylvania Democrat who tried to run for the state legislature this year was knocked off the ballot before anyone even checked to see if her petition is valid. The reporter says she “only” needed 300 signatures, implying that the requirement is easy. It is not easy. The typical State House district in Pennsylvania has approximately 20,000 registered Democrats, and they are the only voters eligible to sign. Furthermore, no one can circulate a primary petition in Pennsylvania if the circulator doesn’t live in the district.

Before 1985, candidates for State House needed 100 signatures to get on the ballot in a primary. The 1985 session of the legislature tripled the legislative requirement and increased the statewide petition by a factor of ten, from 200 to 2,000 signatures. Pennsylvania is also the only state that still has a county distribution requirement for statewide petitions, even though such county distribution requirements were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969. The Pennsylvania state courts repeatedly uphold ballot access restrictions that have been struck down in federal courts. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.