Getting a Candidate on the Ballot

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There is a concerted effort by the Democrats and the Republicans to keep the 2-Party system a two party ONLY system - which is only one reason why Americans should reject BOTH parties.

The Ballot Access News Online a non-partisan newsletter reporting on the trials and tribulations of folks trying to put candidates on the ballot in the United States of America. There are many surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in this country, which the average voter has no knowledge or conception of; part of our purpose here (besides reporting on progress made) is to report on these restrictive ballot access laws so that more people are aware of them.

Getting On The Ballot - Petition Signature Requirements in Illinois

Getting on the Ballot, a Signature at a Time - New York Times New Yorkers might assume that candidate's names magically appear on the ballot. But anyone who has ever tried to run for office knows better. Candidates for citywide office - mayor, comptroller and public advocate - must get 7,500 valid signatures on their petitions. Candidates for borough president must secure 4,000 signatures and Council candidates must obtain 900.

BALLOT ACCESS: A Formidable Barrier to Fair Participation by Richard Winger ~ A more perfect democracy for the United States requires a shift to a more proportional electoral system; it also requires a better system of financing election campaigns. But even those two fundamental reforms are not sufficient by themselves. The United States, alone among the world's nations, also badly needs ballot access reform. Very few people are aware of the ballot access problem in the United States. Each state writes its own ballot access laws, even for federal office. Since there is no single standard for the whole nation, the public and even the media are ignorant about ballot access laws. By contrast, the campaign spending laws (for federal office) are uniform for the entire nation, leading to the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign spending laws for federal office being familiar to the press and most political activists.

No party? Good luck getting on the ballot Oregon elections - A new law makes it much more difficult for independent candidates to seek office. Independent candidates, already a rare breed in Oregon, could be headed for extinction under a new, barely noticed law that took effect this month. Legislative leaders and other state lawmakers who supported the change say they were trying to keep Oregon elections fair and "honorable" when they tightened restrictions on who can sign a nominating petition. But critics say the new language makes it far more difficult for unaffiliated candidates to get on the ballot. They call it a thinly veiled power grab by Republican and Democratic party leaders to keep competition at bay and reduce the risk of "spoiler" candidates affecting close races.

3PT - Ballot Access Each state makes its own laws governing how a candidate gets on the ballot. This is true even for candidates for president. Rules vary widely. Some states make it very easy for candidates to get on the ballot; other states make it very difficult. Typically, a candidate for president running in the Democratic or Republican primary can get on the ballot by paying a filing fee, although a substantial minority of states require the primary candidate to submit a petition signed by some specified number of voters. By contrast, a candidate running as an independent in the general election in November, or a candidate running as the nominee of a new, or previously unrecognized, political party is usually required to obtain thousands of petition signatures in each state to be included on the general election ballot.

We the Purple: Political Reform 101, Lesson 1: Getting on the Ballot Before I began writing We the Purple, I knew as much about what it takes to get on an election ballot as I knew about the mating habits of bottlenose dolphins.* But as my research led me from independent voters to independent candidates, I began to realize that I had entered into the swampland of U.S. politics for real. "Dirty tricks" doesn't begin to describe the measures used by partisan politicos to keep the names of would-be independent and third-party candidates from ever appearing on a ballot.

LP News November 1998 - Florida Libertarian Party lobbies for Revision 11 November 3 initiative would reform the worst ballot access laws in the nation. After two years of lobbying, testifying, coalition-building, and proselytizing, Florida Libertarians have their fingers crossed that state voters will pass a measure this November to liberalize the Sunshine State's restrictive ballot access laws. Revision 11, an initiative that would dramatically reduce ballot access barriers for third parties, "is the most important issue facing the Florida LP today," said Tom Regnier, state party Vice Chair and coordinator of the pro-Revision 11 campaign.

RangeVoting.org - Ballot access laws in the USA Ridiculous USA Ballot Access Laws designed to discriminate against third parties. Among the world's democracies, the United States has by far the worst ballot access situation. Each state writes its own ballot access laws, even for federal office. Sometimes these laws clearly are intentionally written to force one- or two-party domination. Since there is no single standard for the whole nation, the public and even the media are generally ignorant about ballot access laws.

GETTING ON THE BALLOT IN WEST VIRGINIA: A BALLOT ACCESS GUIDE FOR MINOR PARTIES AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES (2005)

Alternate route to ballot is long, winding road under House bill {New Mexico} Candidates for statewide office or Congress could get on the ballot by collecting voters' signatures, under the proposal. But they'd have less than three weeks to do so, and the signatures would have to come from every county in the state or the congressional district. Critics say that requirement is so burdensome it would effectively keep any candidate who didn't succeed at the preprimary convention off the ballot.

Information for Candidates {Delaware} Delaware law provides specific requirements and actions for political parties and candidates to gain access to the ballot. Anyone considering candidacy should carefully review Title 15 of Delaware Code. §3001 pertains to political parties and §3002 to unaffiliated candidate ballot qualifications.

The Michigan Third Parties Coalition is a network representing nearly the entire partisan political spectrum in Michigan outside of the Democratic and Republican parties to advocate for equal rights for all parties participating in Michigan elections. We recognize that the present two party system is not simply a product of voters’ choices or ideals but rather an institutional arrangement maintained by the major parties to prevent competition and by powerful aligned interests that benefit from the undemocratic status quo. As in other states, Michigan minor party candidates face a near complete media blackout, justified through the circular logic that minor party candidates do not gain enough public attention to become viable. Most crudely, the media black out of Michigan minor party candidates regularly extends to electoral debates thereby prohibiting minor party candidates from directly challenging the candidates of the major parties and presenting their views to the public.

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