Kansas Bill to Drastically Restrict Ballot Access Passes Committee

On February 7, the Kansas House Elections Committee passed HB 2516. As amended, it increases the statewide independent petition from exactly 5,000 signtures, to 2% of the last gubernatorial vote. This would give Kansas the nation’s highest percentage requirement for presidential candidates running outside the two major parties. For 2024, the petition would be 20,818 signatures, which is 1.47% of the Kansas November 2020 presidential vote.

When the 2024 presidential percentage procedures of each state are compared with each other, this would give Kansas the most difficult requirement of any state. The fairest way to compare each state is to calculate the number of signatures in 2024, divided by the number of votes cast for president in 2020. Currently the most difficult percentage (using the easiest method to get on the ballot) is Wyoming, which stands at 1.40%. The only other states currently above 1.01% are California at 1.25%, Indiana at 1.22%, and North Dakota at 1.10%. Thanks to Eric Lund for this news.