The Oklahoman, largest newspaper in Oklahoma, has this rousing editorial in support of the ballot access bill that has already passed the State House. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for the link.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
The Oklahoman, largest newspaper in Oklahoma, has this rousing editorial in support of the ballot access bill that has already passed the State House. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for the link.
Only filing fees will bring equality to qualifying for the ballot in Oklahoma or in any state. Even now, Independents in Oklahoma only have to pay a filing fee – just like the Democrats and Republicans do. What can be unfair about this? Even 1000 signatures are 1000 signatures to many for a serious candidate to run for office. If a candidate is serious, he or she is more than willing to pay the filing fee, and the voters will decide if the candidate is serious or not.
As I posted at IPR, there’s a slight error in the Oklahoman article. It says Pat Buchanan was the last third party candidate for prez to make the ballot in Oklahoma. He actually shares that distinction with Harry Browne.
Alabama,
You are right that independents only need to pay a filing fee to run for most offices in Oklahoma. However, there are two problems with this.
1) Independent Presidential candidates can’t pay a filing fee. it is something that I have brought up with many members of the legislature but has yet to be written into any legislation. To get a presidential candidate on the ballot in Oklahoma, you either need to be the nominee for a recognized party or petition as an Independent or Unaffiliated candidate.
2) You cannot run for office under any party except those recognized by the state. To become recognized, you would have to petition for recognition, Under current law, that is extremely difficult. It would be preferable to have no restrictions on what party you could file to run under, but that seems to be a pipe dream for any state.