Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. Distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separately listed on the ballot, the practice of electoral fusion in jurisdictions where it exists allows minor parties to influence election results and policy by offering to endorse or nominate a major party's candidate.
The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides California. Peace and Freedom's first candidates appeared on the ballot in 1966 in New York. The Peace and Freedom Party of California was organized in early 1967, gathering over 103,000 registrants which qualified its ballot status in January 1968 under the California Secretary of State Report of Registration.
In the United States, ballot access refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized by Article I, Section 4, of the United States Constitution, ballot access laws are established and enforced by the states. As a result, ballot access processes may vary from one state to another. State access requirements for candidates generally pertain to personal qualities of a candidate, such as: minimum age, residency, citizenship, and being a qualified voter. Additionally, many states require prospective candidates to collect a specified number of qualified voters' signatures on petitions of support and mandate the payment of filing fees before granting access; ballot measures are similarly regulated. Each state also regulates how political parties qualify for automatic ballot access, and how those minor parties that do not can. Fundamental to democracy, topics related to ballot access are the subject of considerable debate in the United States.
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. The system is almost totally confined to elections in the United States. Some U.S. states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker, with the write-in candidate's name, to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name. Write-in candidacies are sometimes a result of a candidate being legally or procedurally ineligible to run under his or her own name or party; write-in candidacies may be permitted where term limits bar an incumbent candidate from being officially nominated for, or being listed on the ballot for, re-election. In some cases, write-in campaigns have been organized to support a candidate who is not personally involved in running; this may be a form of draft campaign.
The 2004 presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, political activist, author, lecturer and attorney began on February 23, 2004. He ran for the United States presidency in the 2004 election, as he also had in several previous elections. In 1996 and 2000, Nader was the candidate of the Green Party; in the 2004 election, however, he ran as an independent candidate. Nader won the 2002 endorsement of the Reform Party USA, and thus appeared on the ballot as the Reform Party candidate in several states. In some states, Nader was on the ballot as an independent candidate, while in other states, Nader was deemed not to have met the requirements for ballot access. In Delaware, Nader accepted the endorsement of the Independent Party of Delaware on August 15. In New York Nader was nominated by the Independence Party at their party convention, and also appeared on the ballot under the Peace and Justice Party ballot lines.
The Libertarian Party of Oklahoma is the branch of the Libertarian Party in Oklahoma. It has been active in state politics since the 1970s, but due to what critics characterize as Oklahoma's restrictive ballot access requirements the party has been an "official" party during only portions of the last 25 years.
Elections in California are held to fill various local, state and federal seats. In California, regular elections are held every even year ; however, some seats have terms of office that are longer than two years, so not every seat is on the ballot in every election. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Recall elections can also be held. Additionally, statewide initiatives, legislative referrals and referenda may be on the ballot.
The Green Party of Arkansas is the state party organization for Arkansas of the Green Party of the United States.
Electoral reform in Minnesota refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Elections in the State of Oklahoma are established by the Oklahoma Constitution in Section 1 of Article 3. They are governed by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Christina Tobin is an American activist and leader in the election reform and voters’ rights movements. She is the founder and chair of The Free & Equal Elections Foundation, and president and chief executive officer of Free and Equal, Inc. Tobin also serves on the board of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections. Under Tobin's leadership, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation has had their independent candidate debates broadcast on CSPAN, RT, and Al Jazeera.
This article contains lists of official and potential third party and independent candidates associated with the 2016 United States presidential election.
A unified primary is a proposed electoral system system for narrowing the field of candidates for a single-winner general election, similar to a nonpartisan blanket primary, but using approval voting for the first round.
North Dakota held two statewide elections in 2016: a primary election on Tuesday, June 14, and a general election on Tuesday, November 8. In addition, each township elected officers on Tuesday, March 15, and each school district selected a date between April 1 and June 30 to hold their elections. This would have been the first election since the state legislature revoked the ability to use a student or military ID to satisfy state ID voting requirements, but a court ruling in August struck the down the provision, and the election was held under the 2013 rules.
Statewide elections in North Dakota occur every two years. Most executive offices and all legislators are elected to four-year terms, with half the terms expiring on Presidential election years, and the other half of the offices expiring on mid-term election years.
North Dakota held two statewide elections in 2018: a primary election on Tuesday, June 12, and a general election on Tuesday, November 6. In addition, each township elected officers on Tuesday, March 20, and each school district held their elections on a date of their choosing between April 1 and June 30.
The 2018 North Dakota Secretary of State election occurred on November 6, 2018, to elect the North Dakota Secretary of State, concurrently with various other state and local elections. Six-time incumbent Republican Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger was eligible to run for re-election to a seventh term in office, but withdrew from his party's primary after failing to receive the endorsement. When the primary winner withdrew from the general election race, Jaeger and fellow Republican Michael Coachman each gathered and turned in signatures to run as independent candidates. Libertarian Party candidate Roland Riemers failed to get enough primary election votes to make the general election ballot both in an initial count and in a court-ordered recount. Democratic-NPL state representative Joshua Boschee was the only candidate who advanced from the primary and the only candidate that had his party listed on the general election ballot.
North Dakota will hold two statewide elections in 2020: a primary election on Tuesday, June 9, and a general election on Tuesday, November 3. In addition, each township will elect officers on Tuesday, March 17, and each school district will hold their elections on a date of their choosing between April 1 and June 30.
