Indiana Petition Deadline Passes; No Independent or Unqualified Parties Qualify for Any Statewide Race, nor Any U.S. House Race

The Indiana petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, has passed. No such petition for any statewide office, or any U.S. House seat, succeeded. Here is the list of candidates for November.

The Green Party tried to obtain the needed 26,700 valid signatures for its nominee for Secretary of State, George Wolfe, but did not get enough signatures. Wolfe has filed as a declared write-in candidate.

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Nathan Altman also failed to get enough signatures, and has filed as a write-in candidate.

No statewide petition has succeeded in Indiana since 2000, when Pat Buchanan petitioned as the Reform Party presidential nominee. There is no other state in which it has been so many years since either a statewide independent, or a newly-qualifying party, got on the ballot for statewide office. Even Americans Elect did not succeed in Indiana in 2011-2012, partly because Indiana forces petitioning groups to choose their nominees before the petition can begin to circulate.

Illinois Challenge Period Ends with No Challenges Filed to Libertarian or Conservative Statewide Petitions

The Illinois period for challenging independent candidate petitions, and the petitions of unqualified party nominees, ended on July 2. No one challenged either the statewide Libertarian candidate petition, nor the gubernatorial petition of the Conservative Party. See this Chicago Sun-Times story. Thanks to Dianna Visek for the link.

New Hampshire Law Commission Keeps Tom Alciere on Libertarian Primary Ballot, Despite Objections from Party Leaders

On June 25, the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission voted to keep Tom Alciere on the Libertarian primary ballot for U.S. House, 2nd district. He is a registered Libertarian and he paid the filing fee. However, some party officers filed a challenge to his ballot placement on the grounds that he is not a bona fide member of the party. In some states, such as Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri, candidates may be kept off primary ballots if the party determines that the candidate is not a bona fide member. New Hampshire election law does not recognize the ability of party leaders to exert veto power over candidates.

Ohio Libertarian Party Turns in 102,762 Signatures to Regain Party Status

On July 2, the Ohio Libertarian Party submitted 102,762 signatures to regain its party status, which was lost in 2014 when the party failed to poll 2% for Governor in 2014. It wasn’t possible for the party to meet the vote test for Governor in 2014, because even though it was a qualified party in 2014, its candidate for Governor was challenged off the Ohio Libertarian primary ballot, and by the time that happened, it was too late to recruit anyone else to run for Governor, or even to file as a write-in in the primary.

Now, assuming the petition is approved, the party will need to poll 3% for Governor in November 2018 (the vote test was easier in 2014 than it is now). The legal requirement for the party petition this year is 54,965 signatures. The Green Party is already on the 2018 Ohio ballot, because it did poll over 2% for Governor in 2014.

The 2016 Ohio Libertarian Party obtained more signatures than any other petition for party status, or independent candidate status, in any state, for any group, since 2012, when Americans Elect also did some massive petition drives.

North Carolina Green Party Releases List of Party Nominees

For its first year ever on the North Carolina ballot, the Green Party is running one candidate for U.S. House, one candidate for the state house, and two for county office. There are no executive statewide offices up in North Carolina this year, and there is no U.S. Senate race either. The U.S. House candidate is running in the 13th district; the state legislative candidate is running for 66th district. The two county offices are in Forsyth County and Mecklenburg County.