From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On December 4, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky definition of a qualified party. The case is Libertarian Party of Kentucky v Grimes, e.d. 3:15cv-86.
Kentucky is the only state in which it is impossible for a party to ever be ballot-qualified until it polls a particular share of the vote for President.… Read more ...
Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
According to this article, it is likely that a ballot-qualified Independent Party will soon come into existence in Louisiana. Louisiana permits groups to become ballot-qualified parties if they have at least 1,000 registered members, and pay a one-time fee of $1,000.
There are approximately 80,000 voters who wrote in “Independent” on the voter registration forms, in the blank that asks the applicant to choose a party.… Read more ...
This report outlines some strong (and not-so-strong) performances turned in by political parties that are currently active in only one state:
In Hawaii, Hawaii Independent Party candidate Mufi Hannemann won more than 11% of the vote in his race for Governor.
In Massachusetts, United Independent Party candidate Evan Falchuk appears to have come in third in his race for Governor with more than 3% of the vote.… Read more ...
By Austin Cassidy at Uncovered Politics:
October 29, 2014 5:54 pm
As recently as a few weeks ago it looked like we were heading for a record year for third party and independent candidates in the modern era. Independents in South Dakota, Kansas, Maine and Alaska all seemed like they had victory within their grasp.… Read more ...
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
One of the reasons the November 4 election is suspenseful is because there are so many states in which it is difficult to predict whether various minor parties will poll enough votes to obtain, or keep, recognized party status.
Alabama: although no minor party candidate has any candidates on the ballot for statewide office, parties can also obtain recognized party status, for county office only, if they poll 20% of the vote for a countywide county office.… Read more ...
From Ballot Access News:
Hawaii held its partisan primaries on Saturday, August 9. None of the nine independent candidates polled enough votes in the open primary to advance to the general election.
Hawaii is the only state that does not have a top-two primary, but which forces all candidates, even independents, to run in the primary.… Read more ...
By Clayton Wakida
Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa announced his gubernatorial endorsement on Friday for Hawaii Independent Party candidate Mufi Hannemann.
Arakawa said the former Honolulu mayor’s leadership is critical to the progress of the state of Hawaii.
“I know in my heart of hearts that Mufi Hannemann is the best administrator.… Read more ...
Hawaii primary filing closed on July 3. This year, there are 21 candidates running in minor party primaries, the greatest number since statehood in 1959. All minor parties in Hawaii nominate all of their candidates in the August 9 primary. There are also eleven independent candidates.
The minor party candidates include sixteen Libertarians, three from the Independent Party (a new party formed this year), and two Greens.… Read more ...
From Ballot Access News:
On April 24, former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced he will seek the gubernatorial nomination of the Independent Party. See the campaign web page here. The announcement was no surprise, because Hannemann helped create the Independent Party earlier this year and got it on the ballot.… Read more ...
By Nestor Garcia
The door at the State Office of Elections closed at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. That was the deadline to have a petition handed in in order to have a political party placed on the ballot for this year’s election.
For the newly-formed Hawaii Independent Party, it was a close call.… Read more ...