In September 2016, the Maryland State Board of Elections drafted a proposed 2017 omnibus election law bill that includes a provision to lower the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from approximately 40,000 signatures, to exactly 10,000 signatures. But in December 2016, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, ordered the Board to delete that provision from its bill. Thus, the bill, HB 143, has no ballot access provision.

The Governor’s action is a surprise, because last year U.S. District Court Judge George L. Russell denied the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit Dorsey v Lamone, 1:15cv-2170. The lawsuit charges that because Maryland requires 10,000 signatures for an entire new party to get on the ballot, there can’t be any state interest in requiring a single statewide independent candidate to submit four times as many signatures. The judge wrote that the lawsuit states a plausible claim, but did not issue an opinion on declaratory relief. Afterwards, the State Board of Elections signed an agreement that if the plaintiff would dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, the Board would ask the legislature to lower the independent statewide petition to exactly 10,000. Also the board said it would only require 10,000 signatures for any statewide independent during 2016 and 2017 (there is no scheduled statewide election in 2017 but theoretically there might be a special election).

It would still be possible for the 2017 session of the legislature to lower the number of signatures, even if that provision is not in one particular election law bill. Under the agreement, the plaintiff-candidate, Greg Dorsey, is free to re-file his lawsuit if the legislature does nothing.