In New Mexico, an irrational law says that even after a party has petitioned for qualified status, it must then also submit a petition for each of its nominees (except for presidential nominees). This “double-petitioning” requirement is unique in the nation. After the party has nominated someone in a convention, that nominee should be deemed to have public support, because the nominee is the choice of a party that has already shown public support. Maryland once had a system like this, but Maryland’s highest state court invalidated it in a 2003 Green Party victory.

The Forward Party is a ballot-qualified minor party in New Mexico and now it is engaged in completing nominee petitions, including two tough petitions for statewide office. They each need 14,246 signatures. The nominees are Bob Perl for U.S. Senate, and Michael Vigil for Auditor. If the party successfully completes either petition, that will have been the most difficult ballot petition ever completed by the Forward Party in any state. The petition deadline is June 22.

The 2023 session of the New Mexico legislature doubled the nominee petition requirement in 2023, in one of the worst changes to ballot access in the last four years.