Maine Representative Ben Chipman (I-Portland) will present his ballot access bill to the Joint Committee on State and Local Government on Monday, March 9, at 10 a.m. The bill, HB 507, makes it easier for a member of a small ballot-qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot. Current law requires 2,000 signatures of party members for statewide office, and 1,000 for U.S. House. This is a problem when a party with its own primary doesn’t have lots of registered voters who can sign such petitions.
The bill, as introduced, altered the requirement by setting a ceiling of 1% of the party’s registered members. But that idea has been removed from the bill. The amended bill keeps the same petition requirements, but says if the party is free to invite independent voters to vote in its primary and to sign nomination petitions for candidates from that party. Maine law already permits a party to invite independents to vote in its primary, so the bill, if enacted, would also let independents sign primary petitions. Thus a member of a small ballot-qualified party would still need 2,000 signatures to run for Governor or U.S. Senator, but at least could get signatures from registered independents. Maine’s independent voters comprise 37% of the state total.
Then why doesn’t Maine’s 3rd parties use some common sense and allow independents to participate in the Primary and ask them to sign the petition’s necessary to initiate the Primary. With 37% of the voters already being Independent, I don;t think it would take too much trouble getting the necessary number of primary participants.
If there is a Maine Independent Party or a Independent Party of Maine, this group would be sitting in a good position. As we’ve already discovered, most independents don’t know the difference between being a Independent and being a member of a Independent Party.
So use some common sense, folks. Go the Independent Party route, and for goodness sake, allow independents to vote in your Primary. Use what you’ve got going for you to defeat the system.
There is no such party in Maine.
The law currently won’t let independent voters sign a nomination petition. That’s why this bill is needed.
However, even if it passes, it is very tough to go out on the street when the only people who can sign are registered independents or members of that party. Potential signers don’t always know how they are registered, plus it seems nosy to ask strangers how they are registered. The original bill would have been far better but it seemd unlikely to pass.
Also, I believe using the word Independent as a party name would not be allowed because of the Maine Green Independent Party’s use of the word.