Only One Presidential Petition Submitted in the District of Columbia

August 7 was the petition deadline for independent presidential candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, in the District of Columbia.  Only one petition for president was submitted, for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The qualified parties in D.C. are Democratic, Republican, and Green.

The Libertarian Party failed to get enough votes in D.C. in 2022, so lost its qualified status.  The D.C. presidential petition requirement for president is arguably unconstitutional.  It requires 4,583 signatures, yet the petition requirement for all district-wide non-presidential petitions is exactly 3,000 signatures.  There appears to be no government interest in requiring more signatures for president than for all the other offices, and the U.S. Supreme Court said in Anderson v Celebrezze that jurisdictions ought to go easier on presidential ballot access than ballot access for other office.

In 2020, D.C. only required 500 signatures for president, for that year only, due to covid.

The Libertarian Party has been lobbying the Washington, D.C., city council to lower the presidential requirement, without success so far.  The D.C. presidential requirement is the most severe of all 51 jurisdictions that have presidential electors, on a percentage basis.


Comments

Only One Presidential Petition Submitted in the District of Columbia — 8 Comments

  1. Kennedy WILL make it on ballots in all 50 states and DC. The NY Court case will go in his favor!

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