DE: New Law Will Purge Minor Parties from Ballot

In a lengthy article for The News Journal at Delaware Online, J.L. Miller reports on the effects of a new law that doubled the number of registered voters a party must have to remain on the ballot in the state:

A little-noticed change to Delaware's election laws that threatens to keep several minor parties off the ballot in November could prompt a legal challenge from one of the parties.  House Bill 245, which was signed into law Feb. 1, effectively doubled the number of registered voters a party must have to be on the ballot.  And it did so two months before voters are restricted from changing their party, when it was difficult, if not impossible, for the smaller parties to meet the new threshold of 612 voters.  "What is one of the major responsibilities that our government has? Wouldn't that be an open access so the people can select who they want to run?" asked Pell Sherman, chairman of the Constitution Party of Delaware.