A counting error by the Missouri Secretary of State nearly left a qualified independent candidate for State Senate off the November ballot.

In order to secure a spot on the ballot as an independent, a candidate must submit an amount of signatures equal to 2 percent of the number of voters in the last election for that office.

(In other words, if 10,000 people voted in an election for, say, State House, you would need 200 signatures to file as an independent in the next election for that district.)

Nick Gartelos submitted 136 petition signatures to the state in hopes of landing on the Nov. 2 ballot for State Senate in the Fourth District, which covers the city of St. Louis.

But his bid was rejected -- the Secretary of State's office said he did not have enough valid names.

Gartelos appears to be a political novice, but he's got enough acumen to know the Secretary of State was wrong.

The Secretary of State's office was going by the 2006 general election, in which about 41,000 voters cast their ballot for Democrat Jeff Smith, who was unopposed.

That, however, was not the most recent election for the office.

Last year, the state held a special election to replace Smith, who resigned after pleading guilty to federal conspiracy charges.

Just under 5,000 voters participated in that election, meaning Gartelos' 136 names met the 2 percent threshold.

The Secretary of State's office acknowledged the error last week, just in time to put Gartelos on the ballot. He'll face incumbent Democrat Joe Keaveny, who won the seat last year in that lightly-patronized special election.