The North Carolina Democratic Party is currently suing the State Board of Elections to remove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s party from the ballot.  North Carolina Democratic Party v North Carolina State Board of Elections, Superior Court, Wake County, 24cv-023631-910.

The Democratic Party argues that the party created by Kennedy is a “sham” party.  This ignores North Carolina history.  Five times previously, an independent presidential candidate, or a group formed to promote an independent presidential candidate, created a party in North Carolina.  This is common behavior because the North Carolina independent petition law, at almost all times in history, has required far more signatures than a new party needs.

In 1964 George C. Wallace expected to be an independent presidential candidate that year, so he created the George C. Wallace Party in North Carolina in June.  Later, when he realized Barry Goldwater was going to be the Republican nominee, he dropped his campaign and his party never appeared on the North Carolina ballot.

In 1968 Wallace created the American Party in North Carolina.  He was an independent presidential candidate that year, not nominated in any national convention.  He didn’t create a nationally-organized new party.  However, he created one-state parties in some states, for ballot access purposes, and he used the independent procedure in other states.

In 1980 John B. Anderson was an independent presidential candidate, but he created the Independent Party in North Carolina.  The Democratic Party challenged Anderson, not on the basis that he had created a “sham” party, but on the basis that he was a sore loser, because he had run in the Republican presidential primary in North Carolina.  But Anderson won that lawsuit.

In 2012, Americans Elect qualified as a party in North Carolina, even though its intent was to support an independent presidential candidate, not to form an actual new party.  In 2024, No Labels did the same in North  Carolina.  It is currently on the North Carolina ballot even though it has decided not to run anyone for president.

On August 1, the New Jersey Democratic Party asked the New Jersey Secretary of State to remove Shiva Ayyadurai from the ballot.  He is an independent presidential candidate with the ballot label “Dr. Shiva.”  He was not born in the United States.  See this story.

As already noted, New Jersey has traditionally not enforced presidential qualifications, and has printed the names of six minor party and independent presidential or vice-presidential candidates who were under age 35, or who were not born in the United States.

The number of signatures needed for someone running for president outside the major parties in 2024 is substantially more difficult than it had been in 2020.  That is partly because legislatures increased the number of signatures, and partly because some states temporarily decreased their requirements in 2020 because of the covid health crisis.

Using the easier method in each state, the number nationwide in 2020 had been 568,689 signatures or registrants, and in 2024 it is 660,897.

The states that increased the presidential petition requirements were New York in 2020, and Arkansas, Colorado, and Iowa in 2021.  Certain other states also increased requirements for office other than president.

Jurisdictions that temporarily eased the presidential petition requirements in 2020 due to covid were the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Virginia.  Also New York increased the permanent requirement in 2020 to 45,000, but then lowered it only for 2020 to 30,000.

The calculation assumes that the easier method in California is the independent presidential petition, not the registration method that creates a new party.  However, both methods are extremely burdensome, and it is a close call.  In 2024 the independent petition is 219,403 signatures and the party registration method is approximately 75,000 party members.  The exact requirement for the registration method won’t be known for several weeks, when the state issues a new Report of Registration.