Bob Casey got some good news when the state Supreme Court rejected Green Party senatorial candidate Carl Romanelli's bid to be on the November ballot.

Romanelli submitted invalid signatures to the Pennsylvania Department of State, which knocked him off the ballot.

The move probably sent a few more votes Casey's way.

Romanelli then filed a lawsuit to try to put his name back on the ballot by protesting the number of signatures required for third party entrance into the Senate race.

Independent candidates in this election were required to submit 67,070 signatures to be on the ballot.

That's not exactly a small number.

Even more troubling is the fact that Democrats and Republicans do not have to meet this requirement.

While we don't condone Romanelli's abuse of the system by submitting invalid signatures to the state department, the system may need revamped.

Why should any candidate have to meet such a ridiculously high standard to be a part of the political process. It's hard enough to get good and genuine candidates interested in political office. Why make it harder with an unattainable signature requirement?

Yes, this year's signature requirement was higher than normal. Independent candidates must get signatures of registered voters reaching the equivalent of 2 percent of the highest vote-getter from the previous statewide election, which was Casey in 2004.

It's quite a hefty task and eliminates many worthy opponents.

Would Romanelli have won the Senate race?

Probably not. But that's not the point. Anyone should be able to get their point out there and make a run for office.

Even if he or she doesn't win, simply running can give a different perspective to a number of important issues facing millions of people.

Take the New Orleans mayoral contest for example. The race featured more than a dozen candidates vying for Ray Nagin's job. No, they were not all qualified. And no, there were a few that weren't serious.

However, out of the ones who were qualified and the ones who were serious came a plethora of ideas and thoughts about the future of New Orleans.

Why can't we have that in Pennsylvania?