Ballot Status for 2012

[NewFederalist]

It is about a year before most people begin to think about ballot access for their presidential ticket but now is the time to really get going in those states which allow petitioning to begin this early. As mentioned under the "Wyoming" section, that state party is about one-third completed and their deadline isn't until June 1, 2012. This is the type of planning all state affiliates should be doing. According to the definitive resource on the subject, Ballot Access News (http://www.ballot-access.org) July 1st print edition, the CP already has ballot status in 12 states for the 2012 presidential ticket. That leaves a lot of work ahead to even be able to present the CP national ticket to the voters. In contrast, the Libertarians are already on the ballot in 29 states and the Greens in 16. A new party called Americans Elect is now certified in 3 states and finished with petition drives in 2 others. They are very well financed and have declared their goal of 50 state ballot access for their eventual national ticket. The message here is simple... start ballot drives as early as possible. Not only does that give more time to collect signatures but in those states where professional petitioners must be hired, it is cheaper now than it will be 6 to 8 months from now. When deadlines approach the price to get signatures on petition goes up exponentially. Now is the time to begin if state law permits.

[NewFederalist]

An update to the above post... Americans Elect is now ballot qualified in 6 states although Florida may still present a problem for them. A recent law change makes ballot access difficult for the presidential ticket of new parties if they are not recognized by the FEC. FEC recognition is usually dependent on fielding a national ticket so AE may get screwed until 2016 in Florida. My guess is with all the money they seem to have for ballot access drives they will file a lawsuit and win.

[Raymond]

Who is financing them?

[Volitzer]

The Greenies have more states than us. OMG !!!!!!!!!!! :o

[NewFederalist]

(07-22-2011 03:29 PM)Raymond Wrote:  Who is financing them?

Rumor has it that Mayor Bloomberg wants these folks to succeed with 50 state ballot access.

[NewFederalist]

Here is an article about Americans Elect. I think it is good to know the competition.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...oiler.html

[Raymond]

State CP affiliates need to make sure they run somebody in the races that will keep their ballot access. Once you petition and get ballot access, its imperative that you maintain it. In MO you need to gain 2% of the vote in a statewide office. We have gotten that twice so far and are ballot qualified for the next two election cycles.

The less money National spends on ballot access, the more they can spend on promoting the party and its candidates.

[NewFederalist]

Exactly! There are a surprising number of states in which one or the other of the two dominant parties fail to nominate anyone for a statewide office. Those are the situations that the CP must be ready for since getting enough votes to re-qualify the party for automatic ballot access is usually a slam dunk.

[NewFederalist]

According to the latest issue of Ballot Access News (the October 1st print edition) the 2012 ballot status situation is this: the Libertarians are qualified in 29 states, the Greens in 15, the Constitutionalists in 11 and Americans Elect in 6. The LP may have a problem in Oregon since there is an issue between the LNC and the state party affiliate which may result in the state party being decertified by the national committee. The party has automatic ballot status in Oregon but if the faction recognized by the Secretary of State is decertified by the LNC then who knows who will appear on the ballot as the LP nominee in OR.

[NewFederalist]

A ballot status update. According to the latest print edition of Ballot Access News (November 1st) the LP is qualified in 29 states (unchanged from Oct); the Greens are qualified in 16 states (up 1 from Oct); the CP is qualified in 12 states (up 1 from Oct) and Americans Elect is qualified in 7 states (up 1 from Oct).