On July 3, the Socialist Workers Party regained qualified party status in Florida. Qualified status for a party in Florida does not depend on submitting a petition, or having any particular number of registered voters. Instead, it depends on the party’s submitting a list of party officers and bylaws. This sounds easy, and it is relatively easy, although the state is remarkably fussy about the details of a party’s bylaws.
Recently the Socialist Workers Party announced its presidential and vice-presidential nominees. They are James Harris, 64, for President, and Maura DeLuca, 33, for Vice-President. Harris was also the party’s presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000.
The ticket expects to appear on the ballot in seven states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington. That would be the fewest number of states that the Socialist Workers Party has been on the ballot for President since 1956, when it was only on in four states. States in which the party qualified for the ballot in 2008, but which the party won’t attempt in 2012, are Delaware, New York, and Vermont.
DOES THE PROHIBITION PARTY HAVE NALLOT STATUS IN FL?
Florida regulations for political parties are similar to those for corporate governance. They are not fussy at all, let alone remarkably so.
#1, no, the Prohibition Party doesn’t have status as a party in Florida. They did but they lost their status because the state didn’t like some details of their bylaws. The Socialist Party is in the same boat. And the SWP probably needed an attorney to fix up its bylaws, which had also been rejected earlier.
Can the Prohibition & Socialist parties reapply for ballot access in 2012, and if so how long does each have to do it?
#4, yes, they can still do that, but all the paperwork must be approved no later than August 31, plus the party’s electors are due by then also. And parties must have a full slate of presidential elector candidates, and all of them must be registered party members. And elections officials won’t tally registrations unto unqualified parties, so realistically the parties that want to qualify must do it before the deadline to have time to then register their members.
Des Moines Register article on Harris visit: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120708/NEWS09/307080022/1007/news05
The SWP must be getting better at reading the Constitution. Instead of nominating someone who wasn’t even a U.S. citizen for president, like they did in 2004 and 2008, they’ve only nominated an ineligible person for vice president this time. And not only that, but their ineligible VP candidate would actually become eligible for office during the term.
The SWP had two different candidates in many different states for President because their 2004 and 2008 nominee, Roger Calero, was not a natural-born U.S. citizen. James Harris was given the SWP nomination for those states that would not allow Calero to run on the ballot because certain states would not allow a non-natural-born U.S. citizen to run for President. Racist!