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Senate panel restores population-based test for party access, prompting objection from third-party leader
Summary
Senate Bill 163 would replace a fixed 10,000-signature test for qualifying political parties with a percentage tied to voter turnout; sponsor argued it returns to prior practice, while the Libertarian Party chair warned it would effectively raise the requirement to about 27,000 and might violate existing court precedent.
Senate Bill 163, presented Dec. 6 by Senator Gardner (District 27), would remove the fixed 10,000-signature threshold for new political parties and replace it with a formula tied to the state—s voting population, a move supporters say restores historical representation while critics call exclusionary.
Gardner told the committee SB 163 "would remove the artificially created low threshold of 10,000 signatures, instead returning to the…
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