Under Pennsylvania law a statewide candidate needs 5000 signatures to get on the ballot. The catch is that the candidate must obtain at least 250 of those signatures in each of ten different counties.
It’s relatively easy to get those signatures in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, but almost impossible to get them in Forest or Elk. Voters in small-population counties have more power than voters in large population counties. The requirement is even more difficult for minor party candidates.
Pennsylvania is the only state to have such a law. On December 13 the Third Circuit issued a decision asking Pennsylvania to explain why this requirement is necessary, and why it doesn’t violate the one-man, one vote standard.
The U.S. District Court will hold a hearing on this on January 10. If I were the District Court Judge.
Info for this post was taken from “Ballot Access News,” (January 1, 2018), p. 1.
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