For the second time, a House panel has rejected a proposal to lower the threshold for a political party to maintain its status as certified party in Arkansas.

The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs today voted down House Bill 1247 by Rep. Richard Carroll of North Little Rock, the Legislature’s first Green Party member. The bill would allow a party to retain certification if it received 3 percent of the total votes cast in either of the two most recent general elections in the race for any statewide constitutional office, U.S. senator or president.

Parties currently have to receive 3 percent of the votes cast in the most recent governor’s election to retain certification.

The bill, which the committee previously rejected on March 11, failed in an 8-11 vote.

Mariah Hatta, executive director of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, testified against the bill.

“Changing the rules in the middle of the game is unfair,” she said.

Rep. Dan Greenberg, R-Little Rock, said he wondered “when the game ends, so at that point we’ll be allowed to look at our election laws.”