South Carolina has 36 independent candidates for the legislature on the ballot this year, far more than it has ever had before. This is because of the peculiar circumstances earlier this year that kept over 100 legislative candidates from running in the major party primaries. The excluded candidates were permitted to become independent candidates after they failed to qualify for the primary ballot. Therefore, the vast majority, if not all, of the independents self-identify as Republicans or Democrats.

At no time in the past twenty years, prior to 2012, have there been more than three independent legislative candidates on the South Carolina ballot.

This year, the New York Libertarian Party nominated Daniel J. Halloran for U.S. House, 6th district. The party submitted 4,500 signatures to meet a requirement of 3,000 signatures. The petition was not challenged. But because Halloran is also the Republican Party nominee and he is also the Conservative Party nominee, the State Board of Elections will not print a separate box on the ballot so that voters can vote for Halloran as a Libertarian. Instead the Board said it would print the word “Libertarian” within the box on the ballot on either the Conservative line, or the Republican line, whichever he chooses.

This policy is already being challenged in court by the Libertarian Party. The hearing in the similar 2010 case will be December 4, 2012, too late to give any relief to Halloran. That earlier case is Credico v New York State Board of Elections, U.S. District Court, 10-cv-4555. The 2010 case involved the failure of the State Board of Elections to give Randy Credico, candidate for U.S. Senate, a box on the ballot so voters could vote for him as a Libertarian, and an additional box so that voters could vote for him as the nominee of the Anti-Prohibition Party. Both parties had their own lines on the ballot.

The state policy creates a confusing ballot. The Libertarian Party has its own party column on the ballot, and the ballot would be far less confusing if the Board simply printed Halloran’s name in the Libertarian Party column. Instead, there is a blank space for U.S. House in the Libertarian column, yet voters will see the word “Libertarian” in either the Republican column or the Conservative column. And voters will lose the ability to signal that they support Halloran as a Libertarian; they will be forced to cast a vote that will be credited either to the Republican Party or the Conservative Party, depending on which line Halloran chooses for the Libertarian label. Thanks to Mark Axinn for this news.

It is likely that the Gary Johnson-Jill Stein debate, set for October 30 in Washington, D.C., will be postponed due to the upcoming east coast storm, which makes travel very difficult.