On May 25, 2012, a U.S. District Court struck down Montana’s March petition deadline for independent candidates (other than presidential independents) to get on the ballot. The state did not appeal.

The deadline for Montana legislators to submit bill ideas to the bill-drafting office has now passed, and no legislator has introduced a bill to replace the old, void deadline. However, Montana legislators are permitted to introduce two bills beyond this deadline, so it is still possible a bill on this subject will be introduced in 2013.

The Green Party nominee for U.S. House who received the highest percentage in the nation (when districts are excluded that did not have both a Democrat and a Republican also in the race) in 2012 was Ursula Rozum. She was the Green Party nominee in New York’s 24th district, centered on Syracuse.

She got a great deal of publicity when she received campaign contributions from a wealthy donor who had also given hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent expenditures to various Republicans. She responded by giving those contributions to charity, instead of using them to advance her own candidacy. She also received publicity because she performed well in a televised debate with her major party opponents. She received 7.74% of the vote, or 22,670 votes. The Democratic nominee won the race in that district. See this story about the final election returns.

Two other Green Party U.S. House candidates, both in Illinois, also did well. Nancy Wade, in the 5th district near Chicago, received 5.68% (15,359 votes) and Paula Bradshaw, in the 12th district in southwest Illinois, received 5.61% (17,045 votes). Because each received more than 5% of the vote, the Green Party is ballot-qualified for 2014 in just those two particular districts, but not the remainder of the state.

Among U.S. House candidates who had only one major party opponent, the highest percentage for any Green was Rebekah Kennedy, who received 16.01% (39,318 votes) in the Arkansas 3rd district, running against a Republican and a Libertarian.

In November 2010, the percentage of voters who cast a vote for an independent or minor party for U.S. House was 3.28% of the total vote cast for U.S. House. The November 2012 percentage can’t be known exactly until the New York State Board of Elections reports the final vote, but it appears it was also 3.3%.

It is somewhat surprising that the “other” vote for U.S. House in 2012 didn’t decline substantially. In November 2010, there was a ballot-listed choice besides “Democrat” or “Republican” in 69% of the districts. But in November 2012, there was a ballot-listed choice other than “Democrat” or “Republican” in only 56% of the districts. The chief reason for the decline in U.S. districts with another choice is that, starting in 2012, California used the top-two system. Whereas 29 California districts in 2010 gave voters a choice other than the major parties, in 2012 only four districts gave voters such a choice.

Another reason for the decline between 2010 and 2012 is that Illinois had the Green Party on the ballot in 2010, but in 2012 there were no ballot-qualified minor parties in that state. Whereas Illinois had 13 districts with an “other” choice on the ballot in 2010, in 2012 there were only five such districts. Two Greens petitioned, and three independent candidates petitioned.

Extrapolating the 2012 data, one could conclude that if all U.S. House districts in 2012 had given voters an “other” choice on the ballot, the “other” vote in 2012 nationally would have been 5.8% of the total vote cast. For purposes of this blog post, the nation is considered to have 436 members of the U.S. House; the District of Columbia Delegate vote is included in all calculations. Also for purposes of these calculations, votes cast for minor parties are considered “other” votes, even if the minor party had cross-endorsed a major party nominee. Finally, write-in votes are excluded from the calculation, unless the write-in candidate was officially supported by a particular party and that particular party had no ballot-listed member on the ballot.