On July 16, the Oklahoma State Board of Elections had a random drawing to determine the order of parties on the November 2024 ballot. The Libertarian Party won the top spot, followed by the Republican Party and then the Democratic Party. Thanks to Chris Powell for this news.
On July 16, the North Carolina State Board of Elections approved the petition of the We the People Party (which has nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.), but denied the petition of the Justice for All Party (which supports Cornel West). See this story.
Justice for All was denied because some voters alleged that the petitioners were making inaccurate statements about the purpose of the petition. Thanks to Bobby G. for this news.
Oklahoma lets an independent presidential candidate, or the nominee of an unqualified party, on the ballot if they pay $35,000 by July 15. This year, the only two candidates who paid the fee are Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Chris Garrity. Presidential nominees of qualified parties need not pay the fee. The qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian.
Here is the website of Chris Garrity, who lives in New Hampshire. So far Oklahoma is the only state in which he is on the ballot. His website says he also expects to qualify in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont. He is an independent. His website says political parties are “poisonous.”
The Georgia Secretary of State has posted some instructions on how minor parties can comply with SB 189, the new law that says if a minor party is on the ballot for president in at least 20 states and territories, it can notify the Georgia Secretary of State and the presidential nominee of that party will automatically be on in Georgia.
Here is the one-page set of rules, which says the documentation from other states and territories (that have presidential electors) is due August 23. This is only a regulation, not a law, and the Secretary of State is free to revise it. In practice, the deadline is too early. Petitions for presidential candidates in five states are not due until early September. Therefore, the Georgia rules ought to have a deadline in early September as well.
UOCAVA, the federal law that tells states to mail postal ballots to overseas voters, does not require the ballots to be sent until 45 days before the general election. That means the ballots need not be sent out until late September.
July 15, the first day of the Republican convention in Milwaukee, saw a meeting between former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Afterwards Kennedy said he hopes to meet with leaders of the Democratic Party, and that the purpose of his meeting was to discuss national unity. Kennedy said he is not dropping out of the presidential race. See this story.
