The Massachusetts Republicans running for State Treasurer and State Auditor have both failed to gather enough valid signatures to win a place on the primary ballot. Therefore, the party will not have any nominees for those two offices. They each needed 5,000 signatures of registered Republicans or registered independents. Massachusetts ballot access for primary elections is very difficult, yet for some reason the press in Massachusetts never discusses this point.
It always seems silly that a qualified candidate for public office filing to be on the primary ballot as a major party candidate should have to collect any signatures.
In Minnesota, major party (at this time the DFL, GOP and IND) candidates do not have to collect signatures to get on the primary election ballot. But they can to avoid paying the filing fee.
I can see maybe have some sort of signature rule if you were worried about someone trying to “take over” the party. Yet, that is a something that people tell us will happen in Minnesota where we do not declare a party affiliation when we register to vote (GASP! HORROR!).
BTW, Richard I see you for the first time (I thought you would be taller…) You were on some video file talking about ballot access law. I think it was a Libertarian broadcast. Might want to put a link to it on your website.
Massachusetts does not have filing fees.
The Massachusetts ballot access laws were written by the Machine Democrats and their Mortal Enemies, the Liberal Democrats, to ensure that both sides had access to the state’s important election, the Democratic Party Primary, in such a way that no one could be criticized by getting on the ballot via an unfair process.
Is takeover an issue? This year in New Hampshire, approximately a dozen Libertarians are running for state legislature, with solid chances for election. They did this by petitioning onto R and D slates that elsewise would not have been filled in multimember districts.