On March 15, the Maine Veterans & Legal Affairs Committees of each house held a joint hearing on LD 769. It eases the definition of a qualified party, from a group that has 10,000 registered members, to 5,000. The bill is bi-partisan; it has four Republican and three Democratic sponsors, including the House Republican leader.

The bill restores rationality to the definition of a party. Current law says a new party must have 5,000 registered members, and can be on the ballot for two elections with that level of membership. But afterwards it must have 10,000 registered members. However, because a U.S. District Court last year held that Maine cannot erase the registered members of a party just because it goes off the ballot, under existing law an old party that falls off the ballot for having fewer than 10,000 registered members can instantly spring back into qualified status as a new party, assuming it still has at least 5,000 members. Thanks to Pat Ford for this news.

The sponsors are Senator Eric Brady, and Representatives Amy Roeder, John Andrews, David Boyer, Billy Faulkingham, Laura Supica, and Bruce White.