By a vote of 60-20, the House on Wednesday approved a bill making it harder for new political parties to access the ballot.
Senate Bill 163, by Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, would require that any new political party seeking ballot access to submit petitions with signatures equal to 3 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
Based on the turnout in last year's election, the bill would require 26,746 valid signatures of registered voters. Current law sets the threshold at 10,000.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
The Libertarian Party of Arkansas has argued that Garner's proposal would make it more difficult for its candidates to get on the ballot. The party's candidates have appeared on the ballot in recent elections under the current threshold. The party wouldn't have to submit petitions in the next election if its gubernatorial or presidential candidate received at least 3 percent of the vote in that race.
Having passed the Senate, the bill now heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson for action.
-- John Moritz