On Thursday, April 27, the Montana House Administration Committee passed SB 565, the bill to drastically increase ballot access restrictions on minor parties and independent candidates. A different version of the bill had already passed the Senate. It increases the presidential independent petition from 5,000 signatures to 15,000 signatures. It increases the petition for a newly-qualifying party from 5,000 signatures to 5% of the number of voters who voted in the last election, which would be 30,604 signatures. It makes the same increase for non-presidential independent candidates.

It raises the number of votes needed for a party to remain ballot-qualified from 5% of the winning gubernatorial candidate’s vote, to 5% of the total number of votes cast.

It makes the distribution requirement for the petition to qualify a party much more difficult.

The Committee chair had said on April 26 that he would not hold a meeting on April 27. But then the Speaker of the House ordered him to hold the meeting, so the meeting was conducted with no public notice, in violation of the rules. No opponent of the bill was present. It is known that the vote was 10-8, with two Republicans and all the Democrats voting against the bill. UPDATE: here is a news story about the committee vote, although it erroneously says the petition to create a new party requires 5% of the winner’s vote in the last gubernatorial election. Actually the law requires 5,000 signatures.