The New American – published by The John Birch Society – reports on the problems created for The American Constitution Party of Colorado now that they have major party status:
…the American Constitution Party (ACP) has achieved major party status in Colorado, due in large part to the campaign for Governor of Tom Tancredo (left), former Republican Congressman from the state. Ironically, now that the ACP has gained this level of official acceptance, the red tape associated with maintaining this existence is discouraging it from getting comfortable in the new role as a legitimate alternative and besides, it’s expensive to buy into this high-stakes game.
Compliance with bureaucratic regulations isn’t easy. As described by the Columbus, Indiana, Republic:
With only 4,134 members, the ACP has had to create a 21-member central committee, elect an executive committee and set up party committees in each of Colorado’s 64 counties. In exchange, the party gets a place at or near the top of the ballot in the next gubernatorial election in 2014.
“We keep asking Secretary of State Scott Gessler what’s the benefit of being a major party. We get a higher position on the ballot, but if that’s the only thing, it’s not worth it,” said Amanda Campbell, the ACP’s treasurer and an executive board member.
Being a major party brings major responsibilities, like filing detailed campaign finance reports, hiring lawyers to interpret complicated state and federal reporting requirements, and holding primaries and caucuses.
Full report by Joe Wolverton II @ The New American http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/7435-american-constitution-party-suffers-from-major-party-status-in-colorado
It’s hard enough to get minor party status, and minor parties have to work really hard to get major party status, and in many states when they do this, the state gives them another set of hurdles to jump through in order to run candidates as a major party. Massachusetts is another state that does this.
This is just another way to keep the Democrats and Republicans from having competition.
This might be true but as Ed Crane and Chis Hocker said, “It’s much better to get party ballot status, lose it, and get it again than never get it in the first place. The argument that party ballot status should be avoided because it subjects the party to state regulation is likewise a crock. It does, but so what? So does driving a car, sending mail, or buying meat.”
“…the American Constitution Party (ACP) has achieved major party status in Colorado, due in large part to the campaign for Governor of Tom Tancredo (left), former Republican Congressman from the state. Ironically, now that the ACP has gained this level of official acceptance, the red tape associated with maintaining this existence is discouraging it from getting comfortable in the new role as a legitimate alternative and besides, it’s expensive to buy into this high-stakes game.”
It’s hard enough to get minor party status, and minor parties have to work really hard to get major party status, and in many states when they do this, the state gives them another set of hurdles to jump through in order to run candidates as a major party. Massachusetts is another state that does this.
This is just another way to keep the Democrats and Republicans from having competition.
The US Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that states can’t telll parties how to be organized. The ruling applies to both major parties and minor parties, and was unanimous. It is Eu v San Francisco Co. Democratic Central Committee, 489 US 214.
Great…the New American decides to write about the Constitution Party and they pick… the Colorado affiliate. I understand why, but you cannot imagine how frustrating this is, looking at it from the inside. Hopefully this article will inspire our people in Colorado to suck it up and take advantage of the situation rather than moaning and groaning about how difficult it is in the real political world.
on another site, Richard Winger stated that the supreme court has ruled that states can not tell parties how to run their own parties. So they do not have to comply with all these rules. I did not state that as well as Richard, but you get the point.