Posted by Last year during one of my posts I had a spirited discussion with a folks about ballot access. I used to work for the Secretary of State’s office so I was at least somewhat familiar with the issues. However, I had no idea how bad our ballot access laws are compared to other states.
Governing magazine recently ranked Alabama has having the most strict ballot access law in the country. Under existing law to have your name placed on the ballot, independent candidates must present a written petition signed by at least 3 percent of the qualified electors who cast ballots for Governor in the last general election. I did the math and this comes out to being around 40,000 signatures. By the time a candidate gets all of their signatures together they have already wasted half of their campaign just to qualify to run.
I recently introduced House Bill 738 that will require an independent candidate to only get 1.5% of the qualified electors to be placed on the ballot. While this is still a higher standard than in some other places this would get Alabama closer to national average for ballot access.
I do not want to create a law where the ballot is overwhelming and cluttered. To do that would just make the process more hectic and confusing.
I know a lot of people will not like the fact that this threshold is too high and many of my friends in both major political parties will say it is too low. If that is the case then maybe this bill is just right. The biggest reason for opposition to this bill will likely be the one party district legislators. That is a district where only one party is viable. In those cases an independent candidates is more likely to challenge someone in the general election. My district would fall into this category.
In the end I think having a healthy debate outweighs the concerns people will have with this bill regarding an overcrowded ballot. For those you wanting no signature requirements all I can say is this is a first step in making the qualification process easier.
I expect the bill to be brought up in the House Constitution and Elections Committee in the next couple of weeks.
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To paraphrase…..(who was it, Neil Armstrong or some other moon-landing astronaut?)….”One small step for for ballot access by minor party candidates”.
I hope it is passed by the legislature and approved by the governor.
Thanks for introducing it.
Thanks for introducing this bill Rep. Ward. Having labored through the signature collection requirements in 2006 I can tell you that I, for one, would be happy with 1.5%…for now. It’s a great start.