On December 6, the Country Party submitted 6,387 signatures to the Wyoming Secretary of State, on its petition to be a qualified party. The requirement is 3,740 signatures. The Country Party wants more power for the Wyoming state government, relative to the federal government. Assuming the petition is valid, and also assuming that the Constitution Party and the Americans Elect Party petitions are also valid, Wyoming will have six qualified parties in 2012, the most it has ever had since statehood. The Libertarian Party has been ballot-qualified in Wyoming continuously since 1994.
The Country Party only exists in Wyoming, and does not expect to nominate anyone for President. See this newspaper story about the party.
Pingback: Country Party Submits Petitions to be a Qualified Party in Wyoming | ThirdPartyPolitics.us
It seems both AE and the CP are well on their way to having more than enough signatures to meet the requirement even if they have a fairly low validity rate. Any idea why it seems that Wyoming is so friendly to political alternatives? I am NOT complaining but just interested.
The BAN post might imply to some folks that the Wyoming Country Party wants bigger state government. On the contrary, the Wyoming Country Party wants the state government to shrink and the federal government to shrink a whole lot! Here’s a sentence from the Wyoming Country Party press release that clarifies those concepts –
“The platform of the Wyoming Country Party is focused on shrinking state government, on reducing state taxes, and on taking back control from the federal government for many functions that are constitutionally reserved to the states.”
WRT Casual Bystander’s question – I can’t answer for sure, but here’s my two cents. First, it isn’t all that friendly to third parties and independents. That said, Wyoming has the smallest population of all states, which makes it more available to smaller groups who can wield relatively more power. Politics is also moderately transparent in Wyoming – not as much happens in smoke filled back rooms as it does in most states. And finally, the Democratic Party is almost non-existent. The Wyoming legislature has the smallest percentage of Democrats of all states (14 of 90), which means that the GOP is generally the only game in town. The split vote syndrome which, one of the prime reasons third parties don’t do well in a winner take all system, isn’t that important of a factor in Wyoming.
Any idea why it seems that Wyoming is so friendly to political alternatives? I am NOT complaining but just interested.
Because they had the money to pay petitioners.
Well the Constitution Party, which currently has slightly less than the amount turned in by the Country Party, but is still petitioning, has run a totally volunteer petition effort in Wyoming and has secured petition signatures in 23 counties. That may be all of the counties in Wyoming, I’m not sure of that.
I’m positive that Americans Elect has used paid petitioners–they certainly aren’t getting their numbers around the country with volunteers. I’m not sure what the case is for the Country Party, though I am sure they can speak for themselves on that matter.
100% of the Americans Elect petitions have been paid and the percentage of paid sigs for the Country Party was in the high 90s.
Pingback: Wyoming: Country Party Submits Signatures, Constitution Party To Do the Same | Independent Political Report