On April 1, both the Constitution Party and the Independent Party submitted their petitions to be on the New Mexico ballot. The Independent Party is composed of supporters of Ralph Nader. The Associated Press reported on the Independent Party, but did not mention the Constitution Party, even though both petitions were submitted at approximately the same time.

New Mexico requires 2,794 signatures to qualify a new party. The Independent Party turned in 6,747 signatures, and the Constitution Party turned in approximately 4,700 signatures.

The last time a party did this petition was in 2006, when the Libertarian Party qualified. It took the Secretary of State several months to check the signatures. This time, the Secretary of State’s office says it will be much quicker.

The New Mexico Green and Libertarians are on the ballot automatically in 2008.