Maine Representative Ben Chipman (I-Portland) will present his ballot access bill to the Joint Committee on State and Local Government on Monday, March 9, at 10 a.m. The bill, HB 507, makes it easier for a member of a small ballot-qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot. Current law requires 2,000 signatures of party members for statewide office, and 1,000 for U.S. House. This is a problem when a party with its own primary doesn’t have lots of registered voters who can sign such petitions.

The bill, as introduced, altered the requirement by setting a ceiling of 1% of the party’s registered members. But that idea has been removed from the bill. The amended bill keeps the same petition requirements, but says if the party is free to invite independent voters to vote in its primary and to sign nomination petitions for candidates from that party. Maine law already permits a party to invite independents to vote in its primary, so the bill, if enacted, would also let independents sign primary petitions. Thus a member of a small ballot-qualified party would still need 2,000 signatures to run for Governor or U.S. Senator, but at least could get signatures from registered independents. Maine’s independent voters comprise 37% of the state total.

As previously reported, last year the Alaska Libertarian Party came in second for Governor of Alaska among the party nominees for that office. That is because the Democrats didn’t have a gubernatorial nominee. Therefore, under Alaska law, the Libertarian Party had the right to choose a nominee for the Commission that regulates campaign finance.

According to this story, the legislators who must approve the appointment aren’t sure they want to appoint Bill McCord, the Libertarian Party’s choice. The story is fairly comprehensive, and says one objection to McCord is that he hasn’t lived in Alaska very long. The story does not say if the position actually has a duration of residency requirement, but probably there is no such requirement. The story also does not say that McCord has been very interested in election law for over twenty-five years. Back in 1991, McCord was a constituent of Congressman Al Swift, who was chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives committee that handled election law bills. McCord helped persuade Swift to hold a hearing on a bill that would have helped minor parties and independent candidates.

Last month, the Denver Elections office announced that candidates can complete ballot access petitions using a tablet with a stylus, instead of paper petitions. The tablet is connected to the city’s voter registration records, so a circulator using the device can know instantly if the petition is valid. Candidates can rent tablets from the city for $375, and the money is returned when the device is returned.

So far, state law forbids the device from being used for local initiative petitions. Here is a link to the Denver Elections office press release about the program. Thanks to Election Administration Reports for this news.