1. Thanks for posting this. One follow up question — for the Libertarian party, how many states are they automatically on the ballot for, as of this point, for the 2024 Presidential election, and which states will they need to petition in?

2. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. 34 states.

   I hope there will be lots of lobbying in state legislatures for better ballot access laws. That number might go up.

3. Gaining Massachusetts is really only for President in 2024. All candidates in Massachusetts have to petition their way onto the ballot in Massachusetts, but a party which gets major party status can have its state committee place a presidential ticket on the ballot without collecting petition signatures for it. The petition signature gathering for all other candidates in Massachusetts actually become more difficult after a party obtains major party status as only voters registered with that party, or registered with no party, which is known as being registered unenrolled in Massachusetts, can sign a petition to place a candidate on the ballot, whereas with candidates for parties without major party status, or independent candidates, any registered voter can sign petitions to place its candidates on the ballot.

   Also, I am pretty sure that the candidate or candidates who met the vote test to obtain major party status in Massachusetts are aligned with the faction that is not recognized by the LNC, so if they control presidential ballot access they may refuse to put the officially nominated LNC presidential ticket on the ballot.

4. The percentage of voters in Massachusetts who are members of the Republican and Democratic Parties is decreasing. As of the current data, 62% of the registered voters can sign Libertarian primary petitions. So the primary petitions aren’t that much worse than the general election petitions.

5. 62% of registered voters being able to sign a statewide ballot access petition for a Libertarian Party candidate when the party has major party status is still a lot harder than 100% of the registered voters being eligible to sign a ballot access petition when the party does not have major party status.

6. The Libertarian Party faction in New Mexico which controls ballot access is no longer affiliated with the LNC. If this situation does not get cleared up by 2024 the LP may have to petition in New Mexico to get another party on the ballot under a different name, or do an independent candidate petition, to place its LNC nominated presidential ticket on the ballot.

7. The Republican candidate for Treasurer in Massachusetts failed to get a sufficient number of signatures to get on the ballot. This is in addition to the huge number of seats that they regularly fail to contest in the legislature there, as well. The Republicans there would be wise to advocate for easier ballot access for party candidates, if only for their own benefit.

8. Libertarians in Mass just run as liberty party when LP qualifies. No one wants to collect signatures in winter weather.

9. Richard:

   It’s not clear that the Greens got party status in Massachusetts. According to Ballotpedia, their candidate for Secretary was getting 2.9%, and their candidate for Auditor was getting 2.8% in the unofficial first reports.

   They need 3%.

10. Looking forward to dimorats becoming a minor party.

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