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North Carolina ranks as the 3rd worst state in the nation for open ballot access. This means third parties and candidates are essentially kept out of elections. A simple solution is to reduce the number of signatures required to gain ballot access – a step many other states have already taken.
A Brief History: Until 1888, there were no state ballot access restrictions, nor were there official printed ballots 1888 – a party must acquire 5,000 petition signatures to receive ballot access – at the time, this number represented 0.15% of the voters in the last election 1929 – law passed that a party must acquire 10,000 signatures to receive ballot access and that a party must receive 3% of the election votes to remain on the ballot 1980 – for the first time, the Socialist Workers Party (a Marxist political party) qualified for the state ballot 1981 – law passed that a party now must only acquire 5,000 signatures to receive ballot access under the condition that each signer would change to the indicated political party (this was a red-hunt) until this year, there had never been more than 6 parties on the ballot 1982 – results of North Carolina Socialist Workers Party v. North Carolina State Board of Elections deemed the automatic party membership change requirement unconstitutional 1983 – number of required signatures changed to 2% of the last gubernatorial vote (at the time, a seven-fold increase from the previous 5,000 required signatures)
(There were no government-printed
ballots in the US until 1888, but North Carolina
didn't have a government-printed ballot until 1901.
And the 1901 law said the only parties that could be
on the ballot were parties that had polled 50,000
votes or more for Governor in 1900. That meant that
the Dem & Rep Parties (both of which had polled over
50,000 votes for Gov in 1900) could never lose their
place on the ballot, and no new party could ever get
on, since no one can change history.
North Carolina let minor parties use private ballots,
which is how they were able to get votes in North
Carolina 1901-1929. Private ballots remained legal
for parties other than the Dem & Rep Parties. In
other words, the minor parties had to print up ballots
listing their candidates, and pass them out to voters,
and hope that voters would use those private ballots,
rather than the government-printed ballot.
In 1929 the N.C. got rid of private ballots and said
new parties could submit a petition of 10,000
signatures to be on the ballot.*)
Contemporary Efforts to Change the Law
Legislative Efforts: 2003: HB 867, the Electoral Fairness Act, was introduced. The purpose of this bill was to reduce the number of required signatures for initial ballot access from 2 to 0.5% of voters participating in the last gubernatorial election, and to reduce the number of required voters to maintain ballot access from 10 to 2%. It was passed unanimously in the Election Law committee, but the co-speakers of the House would not allow the bill to be brought to a vote on the floor, thus killing the bill.
2005: the Electoral Fairness Act was reintroduced as HB 88. Supporters included sponsor Representatives Paul Miller, Paul Luebke, and Skip Stam, Democracy North Carolina, and the League of Women Voters. Again, it passed the Election Law and Campaign Finance Committee. The bill was slated to be passed by the House, but at the last minute it was amended on the floor by Phillip Haire (D) – removing the provision to reduce the signature requirement, effectively gutting the bill. The number of signatures was changed back to the original 2% of voters participating in the last gubernatorial election. This altered bill then passed.
Judicial Efforts: Now, the NC Green Party and the NC Libertarian Party are suing the state, challenging the constitutionality of the NC ballot access laws. The ACLU is representing the NC Green Party and the plaintiffs are calling for the law to be thrown out entirely.
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Talking Points Currently, a third party in NC must gather 69,734 verified signatures for ballot access. During this process, about 1 in 4 signatures is deemed invalid by the county board of election (non-matching addresses, failure to provide a birth date, illegibility are reasons given). That means that in reality, third parties must gather over 100,000 signatures to meet this threshold. Nationwide, there are only four instances in which a previously unqualified party successfully collected over 70,000 valid signatures California in 1948 Georgia in 1968 Florida in 1974 and 1976 North Carolina is ranked as the third worst state in terms of ballot access requirements for new parties and independent candidates (behind Oklahoma and West Virginia)
During the last election cycle, the Libertarian Party spent between $100,000 and $150,000 to regain NC ballot access. A high price to pay to participate in a democracy. In preparation for the lawsuit against the state of NC in 2007, the Libertarian Party estimated it may cost $80,000, depending on how many people have to be deposed or called to testify. The lawyer alone was $10,000. Other Southern States have much more reasonable ballot access requirement – and they have not seen a so-called “proliferation of frivolous 3rd parties” Tennessee – 25 signatures Louisiana – 5,000 signatures (the Louisiana petition of 5,000 signatures is not
mandatory. It is just for candidates who don't want
to pay the $ 500 filing fees*)
Florida – 25 signatures - (Florida has 27 votes in the electoral
college. A minor party that wants to be on the ballot
in Florida just has to write a letter to the Secretary
of State, listing its party officers. It is then a
ballot-qualified party. Its candidates, like all
candidates in Florida, must pay a filing fee. But for
president there is no filing fee. But to be on for
president, a ballot-qualified party must also be on
the ballot in at least one other state, and must hold
a national convention. Then it must present a slate
of presidential elector candidates who must be members
of the party*) Arkansas – 10,000 signatures
(* Thank you Mr. Richard Winger for the additional information)
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