Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) has introduced SB 17. It lowers the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 1.5% of the last gubernatorial vote. It makes no change to the procedures for new or previously unqualified parties. Also, it has no effect on the independent presidential candidate petition, which is already substantially easier than the procedures for independent candidates for other office. And it has no effect on independent candidates for district or county office.

Alabama and New Mexico are tied for having the most severe petition requirements for statewide non-presidential independent candidates. Those two states are the only two states in which the statewide independent non-presidential petition is greater than 2% of the last vote cast. Since Alabama set this requirement at 3% in 1995, no independent candidate for statewide office has ever used the requirement. Thanks to Joshua Cassity for the news.

Last month, Schuykill County’s elected Controller, Melinda Kantner, changed her registration from “Democratic” to “independent.” She will run for re-election this November as an independent candidate. According to this newspaper story, she is the first countywide elected official in approximately 100 years who is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Schuykill County is in eastern Pennsylvania, and contains Pottsville. The county has a population of 150,000. In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain carried the county with 53.5% of the total vote. Thanks to ThirdPartyDaily for the link.

On February 4, the North Dakota House Political Subdivisions Committee defeated HB 1299. The bill would have converted North Dakota from an open primary to a blanket primary. A blanket primary puts all candidates on a single ballot, and all primary voters use that ballot. Then, the top vote-getter from the ranks of each party advances to the general election. The bill had been sponsored by two Democratic legislators, Corey Mock and Lee Kaldor.