On March 24, the Arizona Senate tentatively passed HB 2608, which makes it more difficult for Libertarian candidates to get on the Libertarian Party primary ballot. Current law says a member of a small qualified party that is not a new party needs signatures from one-half of 1% of the party’s members. The bill says a statewide candidate needs the signatures of one-fourth of 1% of all the registered independents in the state, plus the number of members of that party. U.S. House and legislative candidates will need one-half of 1% of that base.
The bill has already passed the House. It has no effect on the Green Party, so far, because the Green Party is considered a new party for both 2016 and 2018, because it petitioned early this year. Here is a news story about the bill. Thanks to Rick Hasen and Thomas Jones for this news.
The bill is irrational. The purpose of ballot access petitions is to keep ballots from being too crowded. But the Libertarian Party ballot in Arizona is never crowded and virtually never has more than one candidate listed. Assuming the bill becomes law, a Libertarian running for U.S. Senate in 2016 would need 2,987 signatures of registered Libertarians and/or registered independents. Under current law, only 139 signatures are needed. UPDATE: here is another news story.