Libertarian Presidential ballot access retention for 2016 – the best ever coming out of a midterm for the LP and the best of any alternative party since 1914.
“26 states have made it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified in the last 30 years: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. We made all this progress not by lawsuits, but by asking state legislators to do this. We are insane, crazy, nuts, if we don’t continue doing this. And now is the time when legislators are deciding which bills to introduce. Many states have strict deadlines for introducing bills.” – Ballot access law expert Richard Winger of Ballot Access News in IPR comments.
Here are some ballot law guides compiled by Bob Johnston for the LP and posted to the LNC list:
LNC State Election & Ballot Access
The December 2014 Ballot Access News has, among other things, OCTOBER 2014 REGISTRATION TOTALS (including state by state breakdowns for the D, R, independents, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Working Families and Americans Elect parties and historical trend comparisons for March 2014, October 2012, October 2008, October 2004, October 2000 and October 1992) and 2016 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT with state by state breakdowns for the requirements and deadlines for full party, candidate, presidential party, and presidential independent, and progress to date by Libertarians, Constitutionists and Greens.
Previously at IPR:
E. Zachary Knight: AG Pruitt Gets It So Very Wrong On Petitioning In Oklahoma
Alabama, Oklahoma newspapers editorialize for ballot access reform
Alabama Ballot Access Bill Will Be Introduced Again
Oklahoma Policy Institute Publishes Research Paper on Oklahoma’s Need to Revise Election Laws
Major historical third-party results, and the shift in major-party platforms that followed
Libertarian Party wins most midterm votes of any alternative party in US in last 100 years
Libertarian Party is the only nationally-organized party to get more votes in 2014 than 2010
2016 National Presidential Ballot Access Requirements are Lower than in 2012
Libertarians happy with most ballot measure results from around the country in 2014
Libertarian Registration Rose 8.3% in Last Seven Months
There will be push in both directions. On one hand you are right, on the other hand as we become more of a real threat, expect more nasty efforts to keep us off ballots and out of debates, raise the bar for participation, etc. There’s lots of precedent.
I disagree. The reason we are getting closer to getting a 3rd party elected president is because the American people are losing trust and dropping support for the Democrats and the Republicans. A movement by the public will push for fair election laws over the objections of the major parties.
To some extent true. But at the same time, we’ll also generate more pressure making it harder for them to shut us out. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
I have a feeling the closer it seems to getting a 3rd party elected president the more difficult it will be to get fair election laws passed in favor of them.
It will be easier if we get some ballot access laws changed in 2015. I think Libertarians and others are working on this in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, DC, Georgia, Illinois (I hope), Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts (I hope), Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Congratulations to the Libertarian Party for such a great achievement and thank you to the dedicated activists and candidates who made it happen. Let’s all work to get 50-state ballot status in 2016.
The LP is in the best position that it has ever been in to get on the ballot in all 50 states plus DC for a Presidential election.
You even got the color right, not blue or red, but gold.