All Three of Utah’s Qualified Parties Retain Status

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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Utah requires parties to poll 2% for any statewide race in order to retain qualified status. The only statewide race this year in Utah was the Attorney General’s race. See here for the results. The Libertarian Party polled 3.89%; the Constitution Party polled 3.25%; the Independent American Party polled 2.63%.

The Libertarian and Constitution Parties each polled over 2% in 2012 as well, and because parties get four years of ballot status when they meet the vote test, those two parties were not at risk of losing their status. But because they did exceed 2%, they are now also on the ballot for 2018.

The Independent American Party is now ballot-qualified in Utah and New Mexico. It had no nominees on the ballot this year in New Mexico, but because it abstained from running for Governor, it continues to remain on the ballot. Once a party is ballot-qualified in New Mexico, it stays on the ballot until it chooses to run for either President or Governor and fails to get one-half of 1%. Other parties that continue to be ballot-qualified in New Mexico are the Libertarian and Green Parties.

Rhode Island Moderate Party Gets 22.0% for Governor

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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Here is a link to the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s web page, showing election returns. Robert J. Healey, gubernatorial nominee of the Moderate Party, got 22.0%, in a five-candidate race. Healey’s showing is the best minor party showing for any statewide race in the nation, for races with both major parties also in the race.

The Moderate Party will now retain its qualified status for four years. It was established by Ken Block in 2010. Ironically, Block left the party he had created early this year, and sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination this year. He did not win the Republican primary. Starting in 2016, thanks to Block’s successful lobbying this year, Rhode Island will no longer have a straight-ticket device on the ballot, and therefore the Moderate Party and other minor parties and independent candidates will probably do even better than they have in the past.

For the Rhode Island Treasurer’s race, independent Ernest Almonte received 42.7% in a race with just a Democratic opponent.

New York Now Has Eight Qualified Parties

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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New York defines a qualified party as a group that polls at least 50,000 votes for Governor. Before the November 2014 election, the qualified parties were: Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Working Families, Independence, and Green.

As a result of the recent election, the two parties organized by major party nominees for Governor, to give themselves another line on the ballot, also each got over 50,000 votes. The six older parties all retained their qualified status. The two new parties are the Women’s Equality Party, which backed Democrat Andrew Cuomo, and the Stop Common Core Party, which backed Republican Rob Astorino. Each of them polled more than 50,000, but not much more.

The Conservative Party got more than 210,000 votes for the Republican nominee, and it will retain the third line on the ballot. The Green Party received more than 165,000 votes for its own nominee, and it will be on the fourth line. The Working Families Party polled over 108,000 and will be on the fifth line. No news story mentions the Independence Party’s vote total, except to say that it polled less than the Working Families Party’s total, but did poll enough votes to retain its qualified status. UPDATE: here are unofficial results from the New York State Board of Elections web page, for Governor only. Thanks to UncoveredPolitics for the link.

Constitution and Libertarian Parties Now Entitled to their own Primaries in Wyoming

Posted on by November 5, 2014
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Wyoming law says parties that poll 2% for certain offices are ballot-qualified by nominate by convention. But if they poll 10%, they nominate by primary. Both the Constitution and Libertarian Parties polled over 10% for Secretary of State of Wyoming, so each will have a primary in 2016. No Democrat ran for Secretary of State. Here is a link to Wyoming Secretary of State election returns.

In the governor’s race in Wyoming, the “other” vote was 13.3%: independent candidate Don Wills got 5.81%; write-in candidate Taylor Hearns got 5.09%; and the Libertarian nominee got 2.39%.