Arizona’s Secretary of State lists these 48 presidential primary candidates who will be on the Democratic and Republican ballots in February. There are 24 Republicans and 24 Democrats. Anyone can run by filing a declaration of candidacy.
The reason the law is so lenient is that, as written by the legislature, only people entitled to primary season matching funds were permitted to be on a presidential primary ballot. When Steve Forbes ran for president in 1996, he didn’t apply for primary season matching funds. The Arizona Attorney General ruled that Arizona’s presidential primary ballot access law was unconstitutional, in response to Forbes’ demand for relief. In all the years since, the legislature has never bothered to write a new law. So, in the interim, anyone may run just by asking.
Meanwhile, Arizona general election ballot access laws are so severe, only three presidential candidates appeared on the November 2004 ballot.
Is this still open??? Are there any restrictions, like constitutional eligibility?
Never mind, just saw that it’s closed. Maybe in ’12…
What a great example of how open ballot access doesn’t hurt anyone. No one is going to say “I wanted to vote for Bill Richardson but I couldn’t find his name amid all the clutter.”