The Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE) is a nonpartisan organization in the United States that aims to promote fair ballot access. COFOE was founded in 1985, when representatives from across the political spectrum met in the New York City law office of former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Participants in the early days of COFOE included political independents and members of the Citizens Party; the Communist Party; the Libertarian Party; the New Alliance Party; the Prohibition Party; and the Socialist Party USA. One of the early chairs of COFOE was Socialist David McReynolds, who was succeeded by Ann Rosenhaft and then by Si Gerson of the Communist Party. It has largely been due to the steadfast work of Richard Winger, editor and publisher of Ballot Access News , that COFOE has survived, and grown, as an organization.
COFOE has filed amicus briefs in numerous court cases relating to ballot access. As of August 2021, members of COFOE include the American Solidarity Party; the Constitution Party; FairVote; the Green Party; Independent Voting; the Libertarian Party; the Prohibition Party; the Reform Party, and the Socialist Party USA.
In the late 1990s a national ballot access organization with a focus similar to that of COFOE held several meetings in the Washington, D.C., area, attended by members of the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Natural Law Party, Reform Party, Socialist Party USA, various independents, and others. This new national ballot access coalition discussed the possibility of formally constituting a tax-exempt civic organization for purposes of ballot access litigation and education; at one point some participants in this group considered borrowing the COFOE name.
The Natural Law Party (NLP) is a political party in Michigan. It was a national political party in the United States affiliated with the international Natural Law Party. It was founded in 1992. Beginning in 2004, many of its state chapters dissolved. The party's Michigan chapter is still active as of 2022.
The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America, is a socialist political party in the United States. The party was established in 1973 as one of the successors to the Socialist Party of America, which had broken up a year prior, resulting in another group called Social Democrats, USA and the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (split).
American electoral politics have been dominated by two major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic of the United States of America. Since the 1850s, the two have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—one of which has won every United States presidential election since 1852 and controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Despite keeping the same names, the two parties have both evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over their long lifespans, in response to social, cultural, and economic developments—the Democratic Party being the left-of-center party since the time of the New Deal, and the Republican Party now being the right-of-center party.
Third party is a term used in the United States for American political parties other than the two dominant parties, currently the Republican and Democratic parties. Sometimes the phrase "minor party" is used instead of third party.
Ballot Access News is a United States-based website and monthly online and print newsletter edited and published by Richard Winger of San Francisco, California. Winger is an expert on ballot access law in the United States.
The Oklahoma Libertarian Party is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Oklahoma. It has been active in state politics since the 1970s, but due to Oklahoma's ballot access requirements the party has been an officially recognized party during only portions of the last twenty-five years. In 2016, The Oklahoma Libertarian Party regained ballot access. The state party has secured ballot access through at least 2024.
The Green Party of Oklahoma is a political party in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was formed in 2002 through a gradual coalition of various state green groups and received its accreditation from the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) in May 2005. Its stated aims are a commitment to environmentalism, non-violence, social justice, and grassroots democracy.
Kevin Bruce Zeese was an American lawyer, U.S. Senate candidate and political activist. He worked to end the war on drugs and mass incarceration, and was instrumental in organizing the 2011 Occupy encampment in Washington, D.C. at Freedom Plaza and occupying the Venezuelan Embassy in the District of Columbia. He co-founded the news site PopularResistance.org in 2011 with his partner, Margeret Flowers. Zeese died of a heart attack on September 6, 2020.
The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY), is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party in the U.S. state of New York. Due to changes in New York State election law in 2020, the Libertarian Party lost its ballot status. It is the recognized affiliate of the national Libertarian Party.
The Socialist Party of Michigan (SPMI) is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan. A party by the same name was the affiliate of the Socialist Party of America from 1901 until the national party renamed itself in a 1973 split.
Brian Patrick Moore is an American politician and founder of antiwar organization Nature Coast Coalition for Peace & Justice. A perennial candidate, he was the presidential nominee of the Socialist Party USA for the 2008 United States presidential election; he waged several campaigns for mayor and city council in Washington, D.C. and twice ran for the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 5th congressional district, winning none; he ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Florida in 2010, but lost in the primary election.
Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Politics consists of "social relations involving authority or power. The definition of "politics" from "The Free Dictionary" is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power. Politics study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behavior, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.
The Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC) is the North Carolina affiliate of the Libertarian Party.
This article contains lists of official third party and independent candidates associated with the 2012 United States presidential election.
Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis.
The Socialist Party of New York is the name of two distinct, but historically related state affiliates of the American socialist movement located in New York state. Emerging from a July 1899 split in the Socialist Labor Party of America, the organization existed first as the Social Democratic Party of New York, retaining that name even after the founding of the Socialist Party of America (SPA) in the summer of 1901. A presence was maintained in the state as the Socialist Party of New York for the next seven decades.
This article contains lists of official and potential third party and independent candidates associated with the 1996 United States presidential election.
This article lists third-party and independent candidates, also jointly known as minor candidates, associated with the 2020 United States presidential election.