New political party measure advances

The Senate on Monday approved a bill that would require new political parties that want to select nominees for the general election to file a petition no later than three weeks before the primary election with a minimum of 10,000 registered voters in the state.

Under state law, a new political party is one that hasn’t achieved party status. To achieve that status, a party’s nominee must receive at least 3% of the vote on the gubernatorial or presidential ticket.

The Senate voted 30-2 to send Senate Bill 277 by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, to the House for further consideration.

Hammer has described the bill as a response to a federal judge’s ruling that declared unconstitutional a 2019 state law that increased the signature requirement for new political parties to get on the ballot from 10,000 registered voters to 3% of the number of people who voted in the last election for governor. Based on the 2018 election, a new political party would have been required to turn in more than 26,000 signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot under the 2019 state law, according to the secretary of state’s office.

For the years in which the office of the president will appear on the ballot in the general election, SB277 would establish the political party filing period starting at noon on the first Monday in November preceding the primary election and ending at noon on the eighth day thereafter.

For the years in which the office of governor will appear on the ballot in the general election, the bill would establish the political party filing period starting at noon one week prior to the first day in March and ending on noon on the second day in March.