Marakay Rogers, the Libertarian nominee for Judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, received 8.03% of the vote on November 3. This is the highest percentage of the vote cast for a minor party statewide nominee in Pennsylvania since 1998, when Peg Luksik got 10.44% for Governor as the Constitution Party nominee (back then, the Constitution Party’s national name was the U.S. Taxpayers Party, but in Pennsylvania the name was “Constitutional”).
Under Pennsylvania law, votes are immaterial for determining whether a party is ballot-qualified for all partisan nominees. A party must have registration membership of 15% of the state total to place its nominees on the ballot (other than in special elections) without a large petition.
Because Pennsylvania’s turnout on November 3, 2009, seems to have been unusually low, it is likely that the number of signatures needed for statewide minor party and independent nominees in 2010 will only be about 20,000 signatures. In 2008 it had been 24,666. The 2010 requirement will be 2% of the highest vote-getting statewide candidate’s vote. That appears to be the vote for Sallie Mundy, a Republican nominee for Judge of the Superior Court. Preliminary election returns show her with 932,558 votes. Assuming that rises to 1,000,000 by the time all votes are counted, the petition requirement in 2010 will be 20,000 signatures. See here for the Pennsylvania Elections Divisions unofficial vote returns page.
The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania is currently the only qualified minor political party in Pennsylvania. The current qualification is valid through the 2010 Election cycle. Marakay Rogers vote count should extend the Libertarian Party’s qualification through the 2011 Election Cycle. Under the current Pennsylvania Election Code Minor Political Party status still requires party candidates to collect the same number of signatures as indpendent and political body for ballot access, but it does require the state to print the party name as a choice on the Voter Rgistration Forms and allows the party to name its candidate in an Special Election without petitioning. This was how Marakay Rogers gained ballot access in this Special Election for Superior Court Justice.