Arkansas requires 10,000 signatures for a group to become a qualified party. Both the Libertarian Party and the Green Party just launched their Arkansas petitions. State law requires the groups to choose their own start dates, but they must finish within 90 days after starting.

This will be the fifth time the Arkansas Green Party had done this petition drive. Each election year, the Green Party polls a large vote in Arkansas. In 2008 and again in 2012, it even elected a state legislator. But the Arkansas law irrationally removes a party from the ballot unless it polls 3% for the office at the top of the ticket (President in presidential election years, Governor in midterm years). So another expensive, illogical petition drive is about to occur, which not only costs the Green Party scarce resources, but also makes extra work for election officials who must then check the petition.

On July 27, Illinois Pat Quinn signed HB 2418, an omnibus election law bill. Among other things, it doubles the petition requirement for candidates for Chicago Alderman, from 2% of the last vote cast, to 4%. The Governor would have been free to line out this part of the 217-page bill, but he didn’t. The bill has many other provisions, including one to let individuals register to vote on-line. See this story.

On July 24, 2012, Charleston, West Virginia city councilwoman Kasey Russell revealed that she has changed her registration from “Democrat” to “Mountain .” In West Virginia, the name of the state Green Party is the Mountain Party. It has been ballot-qualified starting since November 2000. Charleston City Council is a partisan body. The council now has fifteen Democrats, eleven Republicans, and one Green Party member. See this story. As far as is known, this is the first time any member of a minor party has held partisan office in West Virginia since the Prohibition Party elected a state legislator in 1906. Thanks to Andrew for the link.