Filing deadlines and signature requirements for independent presidential candidates, 2016
 |
| Ballot access for major and minor party candidates |
|---|
| Ballot access for presidential candidates |
| Select a state below to learn more about ballot access requirements for candidates in that state. |
| List of political parties in the United States |
| Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker |
Note: This article is not intended to serve as a guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.
|
Generally speaking, an independent presidential candidate must petition for placement on the general election ballot in all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C. A handful of states may allow an independent candidate to pay a filing fee in lieu of submitting a petition. The methods for calculating how many signatures are required vary considerably from state to state, as do the actual signature requirements. For instance, some states establish a flat signature requirement. Other states calculate signature requirements as percentages of voter registration or votes cast for a given office.[1]
Note: In some states, a prospective independent presidential candidate can more easily access the ballot by forming a new single-state minor party or affiliating with an existing one. If a candidate were to opt for this hybrid method of ballot access, the total number of required signatures would drop. According to ballot access expert Richard Winger, it is easier for a candidate to run with a new single-state party than as an independent candidate in the following states: Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Vermont. To better facilitate state-by-state comparison, this page lists only the requirements for independent (i.e., unaffiliated) presidential candidates.[2]
The map below compares signature requirements by state in 2016. A lighter shade indicates a lower total signature requirement while a darker shade indicates a higher signature requirement. It should be noted that other variables factored in this process; for instance, some states required candidates to collect a certain number of signatures from each congressional district.[1]
Filing deadlines and signature requirements by state
Notable independent and third party candidacies
Ross Perot, 1992
On February 20, 1992, in a televised interview with Larry King, Texas businessman Ross Perot announced that he would seek the presidency as an independent candidate if his supporters took the initiative to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. According to MSNBC, "a national grassroots mobilization ensued and Perot moved up in the polls." An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in early June 1992 found Perot leading both incumbent George H.W. Bush (R) and Bill Clinton (D).[3][4][5]
Perot's support waned over the course of the summer, however, and in July he announced his withdrawal from the race. In October 1992, Perot announced his re-entry into the presidential race. He participated in the presidential debates that fall and experienced a surge of support in the polls leading up to Election Day. Ultimately, Perot won 19.7 million votes, accounting for 19 percent of the nationwide popular vote. Perot won no electoral votes, however, and Clinton was elected president. Perot appeared on the ballot in all 50 states.[3][4][5]
Speculation surrounding Donald Trump, 2015
.jpg)
On August 6, 2015, the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2016 election season took place in Cleveland, Ohio. At the beginning of the debate, moderator Bret Baier asked candidates to raise their hands if they were unwilling to pledge not to run as minor-party candidates in the fall, should they fail to win the Republican nomination. Donald Trump, the frontrunner at the time of the debate, was the only candidate to raise his hand. Following the debate, Trump continued to refuse to rule out a minor-party or independent run if he failed to secure the party's nomination. However, on September 3, 2015, Trump signed a party loyalty pledge affirming that he would endorse the ultimate Republican nominee and forgo an independent or minor-party run. Describing his bid for the 2016 Republican nomination, Trump said, "We have our heart in it. We have our soul in it."[6][7]
According to The Wall Street Journal, "GOP analysts said they had never heard of such a pledge being used in modern elections, and questioned if it would be binding or survive a legal challenge." Republican Party operative Peter Wehner said, "If they [at the RNC] think it's honestly going to keep [Trump] from running for a third-party bid, they are delirious. Donald Trump does what is in the interest of Donald Trump. He has no loyalty to the Republican Party." The debate was rendered moot when Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in May 2016.[6][7]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms president independent candidate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
- Other ballot access lawsuits:
- Bullock v. Carter (1972)
- Lubin v. Panish (1974)
- Storer v. Brown (1974)
- Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party (1979)
- Norman v. Reed (1992)
- U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 This information was compiled by Ballotpedia staff in November 2015. These figures were verified against those published by Richard Winger in the October 2015 print edition of Ballot Access News.
- ↑ Jerrick Adams, "Email communication with Richard Winger," March 21, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 MSNBC, "Ross Perot myth reborn amid rumors of third-party Trump candidacy," July 24, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 PBS, "The Election of 1992," accessed June 17, 2022 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "perot2" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Federal Election Commission, "Federal Elections 92," accessed November 6, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Swears Off Third-Party Run," September 3, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Guardian, "Donald Trump signs pledge not to run as independent," September 3, 2015
| |||||||||||
