Voters should be disgusted by the State Board of Election's argument defending North Carolina's ridiculously high signature requirement for third party candidates' ballot access ("Third parties protest rules for spot on ballot," May 6).

Deputy Attorney General Alexander Peters' claim that severe limits to candidate participation are necessary because North Carolina has more statewide contests than other states is outrageous. What exactly does Peters think he's protecting us from?

Over two-thirds of the states require 10,000 or fewer signatures for independent candidates, and in none is there any evidence that a more reasonable requirement causes voter confusion. North Carolina's nearly 70,000 signatures is the third-highest requirement in the country. Even worse, North Carolina forces third parties to repeatedly start over if their party doesn't get 10 percent of the gubernatorial or presidential vote.

The argument that the state is somehow so radically different in the number of its races that it needs to protect voters from too much choice on the ballot is absurd and insulting. Coming from the board overseeing elections it's also disgusting. Let's hope the trial judge has the brains to see it for the nonsense it is.

Todd Morman, Raleigh