Arkansas Green Party Back on the Ballot

Posted on by November 6, 2013
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On November 6, the Arkansas Secretary of State said the Green Party petition is valid, and the party is back on the ballot. This is the first state in which the Green Party has successfully petitioned for party status during 2013. This is the fifth time the party has had to comply with the law, which requires 10,000 valid signatures.

The party finished the petition for 2014 earlier in the election cycle than it has done in the past. This gives it more time to recruit candidates. It elected a state legislator in 2012, and elected another state legislator in 2008.

The reason the party needs to keep petitioning over and over is that the state removes parties from the ballot unless they poll at least 3% for the office at the top of the ticket, every two years. This means 3% for President in a presidential year, and 3% for Governor in a gubernatorial midterm year. Possibly the legislature in 2014 will consider changing the vote test, so that 3% for any statewide race counts. Thanks to Mark Jenkins for this news.

The Green Party is on the ballot for statewide office in 19 states now. It lost its status a few months ago in New Mexico because the Secretary of State reversed an old favorable precedent which had said that when a party submits a petition, it gets the next two elections. The New Mexico Greens petitioned in 2012 so under the old precedent, it would have been on in 2014 as well. The New Mexico Constitution Party is in the same situation, and is trying to raise money to sue to restore the old precedent. If the Constitution Party wins, that would put the Greens back on as well.

The Green Party is in danger of losing its ballot status in Ohio, if the legislature passes SB 193.

California Candidate Filing Fees Rise

Posted on by November 6, 2013
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Earlier this year, the commission that sets salaries for California state elected officials raised those salaries. Because the candidate filing fee is tied to the salary of the office, this means the 2014 filing fees will be somewhat higher for state office than they had been in 2012. For example, the fee to run for the legislature rises from $906 to $953. See this story. Filing fees for state legislature are 1% of the salary; filing fees for statewide office are 2% of the salary.

Green Party Members Win Many Non-Partisan Elections

Posted on by November 6, 2013
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On November 5, 2013, Green Party members won these non-partisan elections: Anna Trevorrow to the Portland, Maine, School Board; Josh Plourde to the Bangor, Maine, city council; Cam Gordon to the Minneapolis city council; and Brian Cummins to the Cleveland, Ohio, city council. Also, Green Party members won 16 non-partisan local races in California. See here for the list. The winners in 2013 are high-lighted in yellow, but some of the winners were elected in earlier months in 2013.

There are probably other wins, which will be reported when they are known. Thanks to Michael for the list of California Green wins.

Robert Sarvis Showing was Best Gubernatorial Showing for a Minor Party Candidate in the South Since 1970

Posted on by November 6, 2013
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On November 5, the Libertarian Party nominee for Virginia Governor, Robert Sarvis, polled 6.6% of the vote. This is the best showing for a third party for Governor in a southern state since 1970, when Alabama’s National Democratic Party polled 14.68% for John Logan Cashin. The Alabama National Democratic Party was a party supported mostly by African Americans; in 1970 the Democratic nominee was George Wallace and there was no Republican nominee.

In general, southern states are less supportive of minor parties than any other region.

Virginia requires a 10% vote for any statewide office for party status, so Sarvis’ vote did not give the Libertarian Party qualified status. However, an equivalent showing in each of the other 49 states would mean that such a party would be ballot-qualified in 40 states. This calculation assumes that a party that is able to get 6.6% of the gubernatorial vote would also be able to match the requirements in a handful of states that don’t use vote results to determine party status. For example, Delaware requires registration membership of one-tenth of 1% of the total, and this calculation includes Delaware.

The only state that has a higher vote test than Virginia for party status is Alabama, which is at 20%. Two other states have 10% vote tests: Oklahoma and New Jersey. Pennsylvania requires registration membership of 15%. All other states require 5% or less, and the median of the 50 states is 2%.

The Washington Post has exit results for the Virginia gubernatorial race here. Notably, Sarvis polled 15% of voters between the age of 18 and 29, 6% of the voters between ages 30-64, and 5% of the voters age 65 and over. The Sarvis showing is the third highest for any Libertarian gubernatorial nominee in the party’s history; the only better showings were made by Dick Randolph in Alaska in 1982, and Ed Thompson in Wisconsin in 2002. Thanks to Jim Peron for the link to the exit results. UPDATE: the New York Times also has the exit poll results, at this link, and they are easier to read than those in the Washington Post.