§11-62  Qualification of political parties;petition.  (a)  Any group of persons hereafter desiring to qualify as apolitical party for election ballot purposes in the State shall file with thechief election officer a petition as provided in this section.  The petitionfor qualification as a political party shall:

(1)  Be filed not later than 4:30 p.m. on the onehundred seventieth day prior to the next primary;

(2)  Declare as concisely as may be the intention ofsigners thereof to qualify as a statewide political party in the State andstate the name of the new party;

(3)  Contain the name, signature, residence address,date of birth, and other information as determined by the chief electionofficer of currently registered voters comprising not less than one-tenth ofone per cent of the total registered voters of the State as of the lastpreceding general election;

(4)  Be accompanied by the names and addresses of theofficers of the central committee and of the respective county committees ofthe political party and by the party rules; and

(5)  Be upon the form prescribed and provided by thechief election officer.

(b)  The petition shall be subject to hearingunder chapter 91, if any objections are raised by the chief election officer orany other political party.  All objections shall be made not later than 4:30p.m. on the twentieth business day after the petition has been filed.  Thechief election officer may extend the objection period up to an additional tenbusiness days, if the group of persons desiring to qualify as a political partyis provided with notice of extension and the reasons therefor.  If noobjections are raised by 4:30 p.m. on the twentieth business day, or theextension thereof, the petition shall be approved.  If an objection is raised,a decision shall be rendered not later than 4:30 p.m. on the thirtieth dayafter filing of the objection or not later than 4:30 p.m. on the one hundredthday prior to the primary, whichever shall first occur.

(c)  The chief election officer may check thenames of any persons on the petition to see that they are registered voters andmay check the validity of their signatures.  The petition shall be publicinformation upon filing.

(d)  Each group of persons desiring to qualifyas a political party, having first qualified as a political party by petitionunder this section, and having been qualified as a political party for threeconsecutive general elections by petition or pursuant to section 11-61(b),shall be deemed a political party for the following ten-year period.  Theten-year period shall begin with the next regularly scheduled general election;provided that each party qualified under this section shall continue to fieldcandidates for public office during the ten-year period following qualification. After each ten-year period, the party qualified under this section shall eitherremain qualified under the standards set forth in section 11-61, or requalifyunder this section 11-62. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1973, c 217, §1(p); amL 1983, c 34, §4; am L 1986, c 323, §2; am L 1993, c 304, §4; am L 1997, c 287,§2; am L 1998, c 33, §1; am L 1999, c 205, §2]