BAN:
Although the election returns for 2018 are far from complete, it is possible to know now that the minor party and independent vote for the top office in each state this year is only 2.8%. This is the lowest percentage since 1982, when it was only 1.8%. The highest percentage since World War II was 2010, when it was 5.4%.
“Top office” means the most important office in each state. Governor is deemed to be the most important office in each state, if that state held a gubernatorial election. For states without gubernatorial elections, U.S. Senate is considered the top office. For the handful of states that had neither office up, the top office is the statewide office that is closest to the top of the ballot. Kentucky was the only state with no statewide offices up, so for Kentucky, U.S. House is considered the most important office.
Despite this, at least two of the three largest alt parties – Libertarian and Constitution – will need fewer signatures to get as good or better presidential ballot access as they needed at this point 4 years ago, thanks primarily to improvements in ballot access laws. The Greens may be in a worse position due mostly to the loss of Texas, which now needs over 83,000 valid signatures to requalify thanks to higher voter turnout this year.
Furthermore, thanks in part to running more candidates this year, the Libertarians got more unique votes for all of their candidates up and down the ballot combined than in any other past midterm election, even with the lower percentages at the top of the ticket. I haven’t seen an equivalent analysis for other alt parties at this time.