On June 4, Maine LD 1041 made some headway. The House passed it on First Reading on Consent. LD 1041 changes the way a party remains on the ballot. Existing law requires it to poll 5% for the office at the top of the ballot at either of the last two elections. The bill would change this. A party would remain on the ballot as long as it continued to have 10,000 registered members who vote in each general election.

The only ballot-qualified party in Maine besides the Democratic and Republican Parties is the Green Party, which has approximately 31,000 registered members. Three-fourths of them voted in the November 2008 election. If the bill passed, chances are overwhelming that the Green Party would remain a qualified party even if it didn’t run anyone for Governor in 2010.

LD 1041 does not change the method by which a group becomes a qualified party. If LD 1041 were to become law, it would still be true that a group could become a qualified party by sponsoring a candidate for Governor or President who then polled 5% of the vote. Alternatively, a group can become a qualified party if it submits a petition signed by 5% of the last gubernatorial vote.