a law passed in Maine  this year says each party decides for itself whether to let independent voters sign primary petitions for its own members.  A party that wants its candidates to be able to get signatures from independent voters must tell the Secretary of State by December 31 of the year before the election.

With only a few hours before the deadline, neither the Democratic nor Republican Parties has filed the form.  Unless there is a last minute filing, it appears the two major parties don’t want to let their candidates collect signatures from independent voters.

The other two qualified parties, Green and Libertarian, already filed the form earlier this month.  They do want their candidates to be free to get signatures from independent voters.