The August 1 B.A.N. had a chart, showing when (over the last 110 years) state legislatures made severely restrictive changes to ballot access laws for minor party and independent candidates.

This issue of B.A.N. has a chart on page four, showing the opposite information. It shows (again, over the last 110 years) when states voluntarily made ballot access easier. As with the earlier chart, only significant changes are included. If the deadline was improved by at least 45 days, or if the number of signatures was cut in half (or reduced even more), then the change is included. Changes caused because a court declared a law unconstitutional are not included.

The chart shows that the best 4-year period was 1997-2000. That period seems to have been better than the current period, which started in 2001. In the current period, the only significant improvements have been in Washington state (deadline for minor party and independent presidential candidates moved from July to September); and Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon (those three states made it easier for a party to remain on the ballot). Of course, the current 4-year period won't end until the end of 2004, so the current period could still end up as a good one.