The Maine Joint Veterans & Legal Affairs Committee heard two bills that improve ballot access for new and small parties on Monday, May 8. In Maine, committees don’t vote on the day of the hearing. The hearing went well. The Secretary of State’s representative and several other witnesses testified in favor of the bills. No one testified against, and no legislator expressed opposition.
LD 295 corrects an imbalance in the definition of “party.” Existing law says an unqualified party that runs a candidate for President or Governor who gets 5% becomes a qualified party. But if an already-existing party polls 5% for President or Governor, that achievement has no effect.
LD 1571 moves the deadine for a group to become a qualified party (by getting 5,000 registrations) from December of the year before the election, to March of the election year. It also says that qualified parties with registration under 50,000 should nominate by convention instead of primary. The sponsor of both bills is Representative Louis Luchini.
It is still cold in Maine in March. They ought to move the deadline to a time during the even year when the weather is warm, say sometime in July or August.
@Andy: Mainiacs love voting in the snow. It’s part of the state culture there.