Indiana Petition Requirement for 2016 and 2018 Will be Lowest Since 1983

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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Indiana requires minor party and independent candidates to submit a petition of 2% of the last Secretary of State’s vote. Indiana’s official election agency has this link to November 2014 election returns. Although the totals aren’t final, it appears that the 2016 and 2018 petition for statewide candidates will be approximately 26,500 signatures. That is the lowest total since the old petition requirement was in effect. The old requirement was one-half of 1% of the Secretary of State’s vote. The legislature quadrupled the percentage in 1980, effective 1983.

The 2012-2014 requirement was 34,195 signatures; 2008-2010 was 32,742; 2004-2006 was 29,553; 2000-2002 was 30,717; 1996-1998 was 29,822; 1992-1994 was 29,909; 1988-1990 was 31,077; 1984-1986 was 35,040. No statewide petition in Indiana has succeeded since 2000, when Pat Buchanan petitioned for president. Indiana is one of four states in which Ralph Nader never appeared on the ballot.

Alabama Turnout Estimated to be Only 41% of Registered Voters

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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According to this story, it is estimated that when Alabama finishes tallying the November election returns, only 1,117,000 votes will have been cast for Governor. By contrast, in 2010, 1,494,273 votes had been cast for Governor.

The ballot access law requires a newly-qualifying party, or a non-presidential independent, to submit signatures equal to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. So although the statewide petition requirement for 2012 and 2014 was 44,829, the requirement for 2016 and 2018, unless changed by the legislature, will be only about 35,100 signatures. Thanks to Joshua Cassity for the link.

Vermont Progressive Party Elects Eight State Legislators, the Most Ever

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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On November 4, eight Progressive Party members were elected to the Vermont State Legislature. Some of them were only nominated by the Progressive Party. Others were the nominees of both the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party, but they consider themselves Progressive Party members. Vermont allows fusion. On the ballot, the candidate’s party of membership is listed first, followed by the name of any other party that also nominated that candidate.

The two State Senate Progressive winners are David Zuckerman and Anthony Pollina. The six House members are: Christopher Pearson, Diana Gonzalez, Susan Hatch Davis, Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, Mollie S. Burke, and Sandy Haas. Thanks to Eric Garris for the news.

Oklahoma Turnout is Only 41% of Registered Voters

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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Here is a link to the Oklahoma State Election Board’s web page, showing that so far, only 823,761 ballots have been tallied for Governor. This number will rise when all the provisional and absentee ballots are handled, but it is very unlikely to rise above 850,000. That means that even if the 5% petition requirement is not changed by the 2015 session of the legislature, the number of signatures needed for party status in 2016 will be lower than at any time since 1980. If the final gubernatorial vote is 850,000, then the 2016 requirement would, if unaltered, be 42,500. By contrast, in 2012, it was 51,739.

Here is a link to the Nov. 1, 2014 Oklahoma voter registration data, showing 2,022,456 registered voters (including 8 Americans Elect registrants).

The December 1, 2014 Ballot Access News print edition will have a chart, showing the petition requirements in each state for president in 2016. That chart will also show which parties are on the ballot in each state. Thanks to E. Zachary Knight for the news about Oklahoma’s low turnout.

Washington Post Web Page Lists Preliminary Election Returns for All Ballot-Listed Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate Candidates

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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The Washington Post has preliminary election returns for Governor at this link. The Post lists all candidates who were on the ballot. The names of the states are missing, but they are in alphabetical order.

The Wyoming results are faulty because they omit the significant write-in vote.

Here is a link to the Post’s election returns for U.S. Senate. The Nebraska abbreviation “PEC” means “Petitioning candidate”, which is the Nebraska term for independent candidates.

The New Jersey Senate returns unfortunately omit the party labels. Those labels are: LaVergne “D-R Party”; Schroeder “Economic Growth”; Sabas had different labels in different counties, but mostly used “We Need More”; Boss had different labels in different counties, either “NSA Whistleblower” or “NSA Did 911”; Baratelli was “Libertarian”.