On July 2, the Ohio Libertarian Party submitted 88,000 signatures on its petition for party status. The requirement is 40,345. The party had been working on this petition drive for the last three months, and the party deliberately did not publicize it. See this story.
This is the first time the party has submitted a petition for party status since 2018. It expects to nominate someone for U.S. Senate and a number of U.S. House seats, as well as legislative races and partisan county offices.
On July 1, Congressman Bryan Steil, chair of the U.S. House Administration Committee, and Congressman Jim Jordan, chair of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Chair and Administrator of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. The letter orders the North Carolina officials to produce all documents relating to the decision of the Board not to certify the Constitution, We the People, and Justice for All Parties. The two-page letter notes that the county boards have determined that each of the three petitions has enough valid signatures, and notes that the state board’s refusal to certify the three parties is a matter of concern to the two U.S. House committees, both of which have jurisdiction over various laws and processes in federal elections. Thanks to several people for this news.
We the People is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s party. Justice for All is Cornel West’s party. The nominee of the Constitution Party is Randall Terry.
The Libertarian Party of Colorado previously announced that it would not place the National Convention nominated presidential ticket of Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat on the ballot in that state. On July 2, the LPCO announced that it would place the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr./Nicole Shanahan ticket on in its place.
Here is the announcement on X.
It is possible that RFK, Jr. will decline the nomination, however. He does not need the LPCO ballot line to appear on the ballot in Colorado, as his campaign has obtained 27,000 signatures to appear on the ballot as an Independent candidate. The signature requirement for Independent presidential candidates in Colorado is 12,000 signatures of registered voters.
The Colorado Libertarian Party decision is contested, and the state party’s judicial committee will hear the issue.
The LP of Montana has also stated that it will not place the Oliver/ter Maat ticket on the ballot in that state.
These instances are the first time that a Libertarian Party state affiliate has not placed the nationally nominated presidential ticket on the ballot since the LP of Arizona put L. Neil Smith on the ballot for President in 2000 instead of Harry Browne.
Krist Novoselic and others have formed the Cascade Party, a party that will exist only in Washington state. It supports proportional representation and wants to be a ballot-qualified party so as to help it run candidates for legislature. However, the Washington definition of a qualified party is one that polled 5% for president in the last election.
Therefore, its first step is to qualify for the presidential ballot this year. Then it will engage in lobbying and a potential lawsuit to change the state’s definition of a party. That definition has only existed since 2004. Before 2004, a qualified party was one that polled 5% for any statewide office. Since the definition changed, only the Democratic and Republican Parties have been ballot-qualified in Washington.
Here is the party’s website. Washington permits a group to get on for president with 1,000 signatures, which can be collected on-line. The party’s website illustrates how the petition can be circulated. Because the law requires the group to identify its national ticket, the party is running James Carroll for president and Krist Novoselic for vice president, but assuming they qualify, they will then withdraw as part of their plan to change the definition of “party.”
On July 1, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker signed HB 4488. It moves the petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, from June to May. It also shrinks the petitioning period from 90 days to 60 days.
