Posted at Ballot Access News
After each election, the list of states in which the various minor parties are qualified changes somewhat, based on the election returns.
Because it is more difficult for parties to remain on the ballot immediately after a presidential election, compared to a mid-term year, the only accurate measurement to determine whether a particular party made headway in polling enough votes to stay on the ballot, is to compare its situation to what its situation was exactly four years ago.
Relative to December 2004, these are the changes:
Libertarian: gained Massachusetts and North Carolina, lost Maryland and South Dakota. On in 26. The gain in Massachusetts is dependent on the party’s U.S. Senate nominee, Robert Underwood, having polled 3%. Not all votes are tallied, but so far he seems to have 3.1%.
The loss in Maryland is somewhat misleading. Neither in 2004 nor in 2008 did the party poll enough votes to remain on the ballot. But in late 2004, the party had rushed ahead with its petition for qualified status in 2006 and 2008; similar work has not yet been done for the petition for 2010 and 2012.
Green: relative to December 2004, gained Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana and West Virginia, and lost Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, and Vermont, with New Mexico ambiguous. Assuming the party is still qualified in New Mexico, it is on in 15 states. For purposes of this comparison, if a party has any ballot status for any statewide office in Connecticut, it is on the list.
Constitution: relative to December 2004, gained Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Vermont, and lost Wisconsin. The party is now on in 20 states, the most ever following a presidential election. Also it has a chance to persuade the Kansas Reform Party to affiliate with it. For purposes of this list, California is deemed to still be a state affiliate of the Constitution Party, although further court proceedings will determine that for sure. The party is on in 19 states if California isn’t included.
Working Families Party: relative to December 2004, gained Delaware, Oregon, South Carolina.
It’s also not clear whether the Libertarian gain in Massachusetts is really a gain. The party’s candidates still have to get large numbers of signatures to get on the ballot, but now signatures from voters registered with other parties no longer count.
I’ll have to check on the legal start dates, but the legal end date for such petitioning is less favorable in terms of weather.
However, the gain in North Carolina is a major one, since it takes over 100,000 signatures (including validity padding) to qualify in that state.
Paulie,
As you noticed, your source is still wrong.
A party ‘gets on the ballot’ in Massachusetts by filing a 50-signature form with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Period. Full stop. This form causes the Secretary of State to count the number of registered voters who have enrolled as voters in that party. The form is good forever, in fact, there is no legal way to cancel it. However, you can be on the ballot as a member of the Liberty Party* even if your forms have not yet been validated; you just place ‘Liberty Party’ on your nominating papers, satisfy the other eligibility rules, and submit the needed signatures.
If Bob Underwood gets 3%+ of the vote, LPMass moves from “political designation” to “political party” status, with a wide variety of legal consequences that we may be able to dodge by declining to reorganize.