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Committee narrows signature requirements for independent candidates, aligns filing deadline
Summary
Lawmakers amended and advanced House Bill 173 to revise independent candidate petition thresholds and filing deadlines; the committee reduced proposed signature rates and adopted several edits after testimony from the Secretary of State and public commenters.
The Appropriations Committee voted to advance House Bill 173 with amendments that change the petition signature threshold and the filing timetable for independent candidates.
The bill’s original draft amended several election statutes (22-5-301(a), 22-5-304 and 22-5-307) to clarify that independent candidates must be unaffiliated and to raise required petition signatures from 2% to 5% of votes cast, and to require petitions be filed 81 days before the general election (bringing independent filing in line with the filing window for major-party candidates). The committee debated two core policy choices: the percentage threshold and whether deadlines should align with major-party filing dates.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray testified in support, saying the change would curb what he described as post-primary “gamesmanship” in which candidates file as…
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