New Mexico Secretary of State Says Constitution Party Petition is Valid

The Constitution Party petition for a place on the 2014 New Mexico ballot has been approved by the Secretary of State. This is the first successful Constitution Party statewide ballot access petition so far this year.

The New Mexico law on how a party remains on the ballot is very unusual. A party can remain ballot-qualified in New Mexico forever, if it continues to run at least one partisan nominee (for any office) every two years, and as long as it abstains from running for Governor and President. But if it should run for Governor or President, then and only then is its status at risk. If it does run for either of those offices, it must poll one-half of 1% of the total vote. The Constitution Party is not running anyone for Governor this year, but it does have candidates for certain other partisan offices. Therefore it will also be on the ballot in 2016.

The only other ballot-qualified parties in New Mexico at this time are the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Independent American Parties.


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