Only Six Minor Parties Have Ever Polled as Much as 1% for President Twice, and Two of Them Hit that Level in 2016

In all U.S. history, only six minor parties have ever polled as much as 1% of the presidential vote at least twice, and two of those six parties exist today. This statement only applies to parties that had their own presidential nominee, and which didn’t nominate the presidential nominee of some other party.

The six parties, the years they polled at least 1% for president, and their percentages, are:

Free Soil: 1848 10.13%; 1852 4.94%

Greenback: 1880 3.35%; 1884 1.74%

Prohibition: 1884 1.50%; 1888 2.20%; 1892 2.25%; 1900 1.50%; 1904 1.92%; 1908 1.70%; 1912 1.39%; 1916 1.19%

Socialist: 1904 2.98%; 1908 2.83%; 1912 5.99%; 1916 3.16%; 1920 3.43%; 1932 2.23%

Libertarian: 1980 1.06%; 2016 3.29%

Green: 2000 2.74%; 2016 1.02%

The percentages for the Libertarian and Green Parties in 2016 might change slightly before all the votes are counted. They won’t change very much and they are more likely to increase than to decrease.

The four older parties mentioned above were able to see large part of their platforms enacted into policy. This is especially true for the Free Soil, Greenback, and Prohibition Parties, but not quite so true for the Socialist Party.

New Voter Registration National Totals

The four nationally-organized third parties that have at least 50,000 registered voters nationwide all made registration gains during 2016.

Libertarians had 411,250 in February 2016, but 499,492 in October 2016.
Greens had 242,023 in February, but 256,560 in October.
Constitution had 77,916 in February, but 92,483 in October.
Working Families had 55,690 in February, but 61,517 in October.

The data for the Republican and Democratic Parties will be posted as soon as the only missing data state, Kansas, furnishes it.

Three Parties Win Seats on Ypsilanti Township Park Commission Board

On November 8, voters in Ypsilanti Township in Michigan elected seven members to the Park Commission. In this partisan election, only four Democrats ran, and no Republicans ran. The Green Party ran two nominees and the Libertarian Party ran three nominees. With such a absence of major party candidates, it was inevitable that some of the minor party nominees would win, and they did. Two Greens and one Libertarian were elected. The two Greens are Shauna McNally (5,009 votes) and Stuart Collis (4,581 votes). The winning Libertarian, Elizabeth Corder, received 4,719 votes. The two losing Libertarians received 4,165 and 3,889 votes.

The four winning Democrats received these votes: 17,888; 17,544; 17,051; and 17,042. Ypsilanti Township is in Washtenaw County.

Michigan Green Nominee Defeats Incumbent Republican for County Commission in Grand Traverse County, Michigan

On November 8, Green Party nominee Tom Mair defeated his only opponent, Republican Christine Maxbauer, by 3,168 to 2,769, for Grand Traverse County, Michigan, County Board. See this story. Maxbauer was the incumbent and had been in office for ten years. This was Mair’s fifth time running as a Green Party nominee.

Grand Traverse County has a population of 86,000 and is in the northwest part of the lower peninsula of Michigan (the “hand”).