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Sponsor seeks tighter filing window and higher thresholds for independents in HB207
Summary
House Bill 207 would shorten the candidate filing period, require independent candidates to file at the same time as party candidates, and raise signature thresholds for independents; the Secretary of State’s office supported the change as an administrative improvement.
Representative Jodie Echart presented House Bill 207 to the House State Administration Committee, saying the bill shortens the filing window and aligns independent-candidate filing deadlines with other candidates. “House Bill 207 does several things,” Echart said, including shortening the filing time and requiring independent candidates to file at the same time as other candidates while preserving the existing time to gather nominating signatures.
Nut graf: The bill would (1) shorten the filing window for declarations, (2) require independent candidates to file at the same time as party candidates (without shortening their signature-gathering timeline), (3) prevent primary losers from re-filing as write-in challengers in the general against the same winner, and (4) increase signature requirements for independents (the sponsor cited an increase from roughly a low-end 110 signatures in some districts to about 300 in the example cited).
Austin James of the Secretary of State's Office said the office supports the bill, noting that most candidate filings arrive either immediately after the filing window opens or in the final hours, and that tightening the timeline helps the office begin ministerial tasks, such as proofing ballots, earlier in the certification process.
Ending: No opponents were recorded in the committee transcript; the sponsor asked the committee for a due pass and the Secretary of State’s Office urged the measure as an administrative improvement to the filing and ballot-preparation timeline.
