Three independent candidates will appear on the California ballot on November 2 for U.S. House. While three is not a very big number, this is the largest number of independent candidates for the U.S. House ever to appear on the California ballot since the state began using government-printed ballots in 1892.
California has never had easy ballot access rules for independent candidates. The original law, passed in 1891, required a petition of 5% of the last vote cast, although that was lowered to 3% of the last vote cast in 1893. Nowadays the requirement for district office is 3% of the number of registered voters.
The three independent candidates in 2010 are Nicholas Dibs of Long Beach, Cecilia Iglesias of Santa Ana, and John Hager of Santa Barbara.