Alaska Ballot Access Reform Bill Has Hearing

Alaska Representative Max Gruenberg’s bill to improve ballot access has a hearing at 8 am on March 20, Thursday. The bill eases the definition of “political party”, and is HB 402.

The current definition is extremely complicated and was last revised in 2004. The existing law is wildly irrational because the registration test moves up and down erratically. Under the existing law, the Libertarian Party is ballot-qualified, but the party will lose its status after the November 2008 election because the registration requirement will rocket up from 7,124 to approximately 10,500. Also under the existing law, the Green Party is not ballot-qualified. The Alaskan Independence Party is ballot-qualified.

HB 402 would simply the definition of “party” so that it is a group that has 2,500 registrants.