The Georgia Libertarian Party, which has been ballot-qualified for all statewide office starting in 1988, is no longer qualified. The only statewide office on the ballot this year was president, and the party didn’t poll enough votes. The requirement is 1% of the total number of registered voters, which would have been about 80,000 votes.

Normally the party always stays on the ballot because it always gets enough votes for Public Service Commissioner, which is up every two years. But this year, because a U.S. District Court ruled that statewide elections for that office violate the federal Voting Rights Act, the state cancelled the election for that office. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court and said statewide elections are legal, but by then it was too late for primaries for that office, and the terms of the two expiring members were extended. It is not clear when the next election for that office will be.

New Mexico defines a qualified party as a group that polls .5% for president or Governor. Unofficial returns show the Green Party has .494% for President, 53 votes short. But that may change when the results are final.

The other minor parties lost qualified status. They were the Libertarian, Socialism & Liberation, and Free New Mexico Parties.

RCV for municipal elections in Oak Park passed with a 79% Yes vote. Evanston passed an RCV initiative in 2023, so Oak Park is the second city in Illinois to adopt RCV for municipal elections. This was placed on the ballot through a signature gathering effort.

Also on Tuesday, Peoria Township had an advisory referendum in which voters got to say if they would like RCV statewide. That received a 67% Yes vote.

Perhaps adoption of RCV in Illinois would be a path to better ballot access laws in Illinois, which are among the toughest in the nation. In 142 elections for the Illinois House and Illinois Senate yesterday, there were zero minor party candidates and only one independent candidate on the ballot. He was Dr. David Gill, who received 12,043 votes, or 23.3%, in a two-way race against incumbent Republican William Hauter.

In the 17 US House elections in Illinois on Tuesday, the only minor party or independent candidate on the ballot was Edward Hershey of the Working Class Party, who received 9,828 votes (with 94% reported), for 5.1% of the vote in a three-way race.

Other than President/Vice President, there was no statewide election in Illinois on Tuesday.

Congratulations and thanks to FairVote Illinois for the heads up!