In 2004, the Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate, Roger Calero, or his stand-in, James Harris, appeared on the ballot in jurisdictions containing 27.2% of the presidential vote cast that year. The party received .03% of the vote in the places in which it appeared on the ballot.

In 2008, the Socialist Workers Party had the same presidential candidate, as well as the same stand-in (the party needs a stand-in when Calero runs, since he is not eligible to be president and therefore some states won’t print his name on the ballot). The 2008 SWP ticket appeared in places that cast 24.7% of the national presidential vote. The 2008 ticket polled .02% of the vote cast in the places where it was on the ballot. The vote total, 7,561, is the second lowest presidential total in the party’s history; only 2000 was lower.

In 2004, Constitution Party presidential nominee Michael Peroutka was on the ballot in states containing 66.4% of the national presidential vote. Where he was on the ballot, he polled .173% of the total presidential vote in those places.

In 2008, Constitution Party presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin was on the ballot in states containing 59.0% of the national presidential vote this year. Where he was on the ballot, he polled .238% of the total presidential vote in those places.

Thus, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party experienced a similar pattern in these two presidential election years. Each party did a worse job of getting its presidential candidate on the ballot in 2008 than it had in 2004. But, in the places where each party’s presidential candidate was on the ballot, each party polled a markedly higher share of the vote in 2008 than it had in 2004.

George Phillies, who appeared on the New Hampshire ballot with the label “Libertarian”, polled .07% of the vote cast in New Hampshire. New Hampshire only cast .5% of the national presidential vote.

Charles Jay, presidential candidate of the Boston Tea Party, polled .02% of the vote cast in the three states in which he was on the ballot. Those three states accounted for 10.2% of the national presidential vote.

Thomas Stevens, presidential candidate of the Objectivist Party, polled .01% of the vote cast in the two states in which he was on the ballot. Those two states cast 8.2% of the national presidential vote.

Other than in 2008, the only other Libertarian who ever ran for president in the general election, even though he was not the Libertarian presidential nominee, was L. Neil Smith in 2000. He appeared on the Arizona ballot with the label “Libertarian”, and polled .38% in that state.