The Average State in 2020 had Six Presidential Candidates on the Ballot

Posted on by November 6, 2020
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In the 2020 presidential election, the average state had six presidential candidates on the ballot. The median state had five candidates. The average is somewhat distorted because Colorado and Vermont each had 21 candidates, so the median is probably a more meaningful figure.

Twelve states only had three candidates on the ballot: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Virginia.

If you intend to ask any state legislator to introduce a bill to ease ballot access, and you are in one of the twelve states that only had three, that is ammunition for the idea that your state is too difficult.

In the early Democratic presidential primaries, every state had at least 12 Democrats on the presidential primary ballot, and that didn’t cause any “voter confusion” problems. The same is true of early Republican presidential primaries in 2016.

Ballot access laws that keep worthy candidates off the ballot don’t only injure those candidates. They injure the voters who would like to vote for such candidates. Democratic Party legislators like to think that the Democratic Party is a champion of voting rights, so if you are communicating with a Democratic state legislator, make this point.

Total Number of Signatures to get on Ballot for President in 2020 was the Lowest Since 1968

Posted on by November 6, 2020
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In the 2020 presidential election, support from 568,289 voters was required to get on the ballot for president (as an independent candidate, or the nominee of a new or previously unqualified party) in all 51 jurisdictions.

That figure uses the easiest method to get on the ballot in each state. In some states, the independent procedure is the easiest method. In others, the new party procedure is easier. The calculation uses the easier method. For California, it was deemed “easier” to get 196,964 signatures on a petition, than to persuade 68,672 individuals to register into a new party. Although 196,964 is a far larger number than 68,672, that is counterbalanced by the relative ease of getting a petition signature versus membership in a new party.

For Florida, the calculation uses a figure of 29, because a new party can become recognized with no petition, and can then be on for president if it has at least 29 registered members who become that party’s presidential electors. This year, Florida did not enforce its law requiring National Committee status from the Federal Election Commission. It didn’t enforce it in 2008 or 2012 either, but it did enforce it in 2016.

The number of supporters (mainly petition signers) of 568,289 is the lowest since 1968, when the number was 545,878. The 1968 number is somewhat ambiguous because it uses an Ohio figure of zero, because the US Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s petition requirements in 1968 and put the American Independent Party on the ballot even though it had not complied with the law. The Court said the Socialist Labor Party was also entitled to declaratory relief against Ohio, but that the SLP could not be on the ballot because it had asked for relief from the U.S. Supreme Court too late.

The 2024 requirements will be far, far worse than they were in 2020, if activists do not seek ballot access relief between now and 2024. The turnout in 2020 was so large that the states in which the requirements are dependent on turnout will have much higher requirements.

Wyoming Newspaper Story About Marshall Burt, New Libertarian Legislator

Posted on by November 6, 2020
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The Casper Star-Tribune has this article about Marshall A. Burt, the newly-elected Libertarian state representative from Wyoming’s 39th district. Burt was in a two-person race with a Democratic incumbent, Stan Blake. The 39th district is centered on Green River, a Wyoming city that had historically been a Democratic Party stronghold, but which is now overwhelmingly Republican. Yet, the Republicans didn’t run anyone in this race.

The story says the last Libertarian state legislative win was in 2002. This is not correct. The 2002 reference is to Neil Randall of Vermont, who had been elected as a Libertarian/Republican fusion candidate in 1998. After the 1998 election, Randall left the Libertarian Party. He did get re-elected in 2000 and 2002 but he was on the Vermont ballot only as a Republican. He left the Libertarian Party because he opposed same-sex marriage and the Libertarian Party supported legalizing same-sex marriage at the time and currently.

Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.