Louisiana defines “political party” as a group that obtains at least 1,000 registered voters. At the point at which a group attains that many registrations, it then must also pay a fee of $1,000. It is then a qualified party, and retains that status as long as it runs one candidate (for office other than president) during any four-year period. It is irrelevant if its registration then declines to below 1,000.

Americans Elect had been working to increase its registration in Louisiana, earlier this year, before it dropped out of the 2012 presidential race. As of the June 1 tally it had 803 registrants.

Even though Americans Elect stopped all its ballot access petitioning around the nation in May, the July 1 Louisiana registration tally shows an increase to 829 registrations. It is possible that some individuals not connected with the Americans Elect office in Washington, D.C., are working on completing the drive. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the news about the new tally.