On March 17, the Indiana Green Party filed a federal lawsuit against Indiana’s ballot access laws. Indiana Green Party v Sullivan, s.d., 1:22cv-518. The Indiana petition for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties, 2% of the last vote cast for Secretary of State, currently requires 44,935 signatures for statewide office. It has not been used for statewide office in over twenty years.

Indiana is one of only four states in which Ralph Nader, who placed third in 2000, 2004, and 2008, never got on the ballot. The other three states in which he never got on the ballot, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, have all eased presidential ballot access since Nader last ran.

Indiana requires more signatures, as a percentage of the presidential vote, than any other state, for president, when the easier method in each state is compared. It also has one of the earliest petition deadlines for president of any state, when the later method is compared.

The Libertarian Party is a co-plaintiff, even though it has been on the ballot continuously since 1994. It is in the lawsuit because it could theoretically fail to poll 2% of the vote for its nominee for Secretary of State in the future, and if it did, it would also be subject to the petition in order to get back on.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney, a Trump appointee.