It is likely that U.S. House member Ryan Zinke of Montana will soon resign, in order to become Secretary of the Interior. Montana’s Secretary of State has posted this information for candidates interested in running in the special election. Unlike many other states, Montana does not reduce the number of signatures needed in special elections, when the petitioning time is short.

Montana says a candidate could be petitioning now. However, it is tough for anyone to petition when there is no certainty that the special election will occur. Congressman Zinke would not resign until after he is approved for his new job. Also Montana has severe winter weather and petitioning is difficult in January. The petition requirement is unusually high now because the requirement is based on the turnout in the November 2016 election. The state requires 14,268 signatures for an independent in the special election, although a new party needs 5,000 signatures and a potential independent candidate would be free to circulate a petition for a new party and then seek to be that new party’s nominee. Thanks to Steve Kelly for the link.

Courts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Wyoming have held that when the petitioning time is considerably shorter than usual, states must relax the number of signatures, or else expand the petitioning time.