Committee advances bill allowing parties, candidates to challenge party-affiliation eligibility

The Ethics and Elections committee reported Senate Bill 280 favorably after adopting an amendment that would let political parties and other candidates sue to remove a person from the ballot if a court finds the candidate did not meet the statutory party-affiliation requirement.

Supporters said the bill responds to a gap in enforcement. "Our current law requires a person seeking to qualify for nomination as a candidate for partisan office ... to have been registered to their political party or registered with no party affiliation for 365 days before the beginning of qualifying," Senator Arrington said, describing the existing rule and the change the bill would make.

The bill creates a substantive requirement in addition to the written, sworn affiliation statement currently required at qualifying. Under the amendment approved in committee, the 365-day period is defined as the 365 consecutive days immediately preceding the qualifying period; the amendment also narrows who may bring a claim to "political parties and other candidates for the same office" to avoid standing disputes. If a circuit court determines a person did not comply, the bill disqualifies that person from placement on the ballot.

Committee members took up the amendment (in the form of a strike-all) before voting on the measure. After a roll call in which members recorded their votes, the committee chair announced the bill was "reported favorably." Recorded yes votes in committee included Senator Bradley; Senator Collins; Senator Garcia; Senator Groll; Senator Polsky; Senator Roussaint; Vice Chair Bernard; and Chair Gates. No opposing votes or abstentions were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.

The bill now advances from the committee with the strike-all amendment adopted; proponents said the change is intended to give the statutory requirement an enforceable mechanism while limiting who may challenge a candidate's eligibility.