The Pharos-Tribune, a daily newspaper in Logansport, Indiana, has this article talking about ballot access in Indiana. The story does not mention, although it could have, that Indiana is one of only four states in which Ralph Nader never managed to qualify for the ballot, in any of his runs for the presidency. Nader is the person who came in third in the last three presidential elections.
Pingback: Indiana Newspaper Discusses Ballot Access in Indiana | ThirdPartyPolitics.us
They increased the vote needed from 1/2 of 1 percent to 2 percent because the American Party kept getting on the ballot and automatically being able to stay on for the next four years. The AP finally lost the ballot fight in 1986. The LP got on and stayed on in 1996.
#2, I was told by an Indiana legislator that the hostile change in 1980 was made because some legislator was peeved that some particular independent candidate had got on the ballot for Mayor in some city in Lake County.
The Libertarian Party first got enough votes to remain on automatically in Indiana in 1994, not 1996. It is impossible for any group to meet the vote test in a presidential election year. Secretary of State is the only office that counts and it only up in midterm years. Indiana and New York are the only two states in which it is impossible for a group to become a qualified party during a presidential election year.