The Natural Law Party (NLP) is a political party in Michigan and was a national political party in the United States affiliated with the international Natural Law Party. It was founded in 1992, but beginning in 2004 many of its state chapters dissolved. The party's Michigan chapter is still active as of 2021.
Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is 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.
Elections in the United States 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 whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be possible to win an election by winning a sufficient number of such write-in votes, which count equally as if the person was formally listed on the ballot.
"None of the above" (NOTA), or none for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. It is based on the principle that consent requires the ability to withhold consent in an election, just as they can by voting "No" on ballot questions. It must be contrasted with "abstention", in which a voter does not cast a ballot.
Elections in the United States are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages; as well as for special districts and school districts which may transcend county and municipal boundaries. According to a study by political scientist Jennifer Lawless, there were 519,682 elected officials in the United States as of 2012.
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.
In New York State, to qualify for automatic ballot access, a party must have qualify every two years by receiving the greater 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote in the previous gubernatorial election or presidential election. In years with a gubernatorial election or presidential election a party must run a gubernatorial candidate or a presidential candidate to be eligible for automatic ballot access; if 130,000 voters vote for that candidate on their party line, they have qualified the party for the next two years until the following presidential or gubernatorial general election whichever one comes first. A party that is not qualified may run candidates by completing a petition process. Parties are also allowed to cross-endorse candidates, whose votes are accumulated under electoral fusion, but any parties must cross-endorse both the governor and lieutenant governor candidates for fusion to apply. Parties that are already qualified must issue a Wilson Pakula authorization if they cross-endorse someone not enrolled in that party; there are no restrictions on who can be nominated on a non-qualified ballot line, as these lines are determined by filing petitions.
The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promotes the proper administration of election laws, campaign finance disclosure compliance, and voter registration processes in the state by promulgating rules, regulations, issuing instructions, and providing information to local electoral boards and general registrars. In addition, the SBE maintains a centralized database of statewide voter registration and election related data.
Electoral reform in North Dakota refers to efforts to change the voting laws in this U.S. state. After the 2001 regular session of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, the legislature formed a bi-partisan interim committee to work on state legislative districts. North Dakota law specifies a minimum of 4,000 signatures to get on the Presidential ballot. In North Dakota, felons' voting rights are restored automatically after release from prison.
Electoral reform in Alabama refers to efforts to change the voting laws in the Yellowhammer State. In 2006, HB 711 was introduced to use preferential ballots for overseas military voters' it was passed by the Alabama House of Representatives. In March 2007, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments as to whether Alabama election law unfairly restricts third-party and independent candidates from the state ballot. Candidates are required to collect signatures from 3% of the total number of voters who voted in the previous gubernatorial election in order to gain ballot access. Ordinarily, such candidates would gather signatures at the polling place at the party primary, but Alabama made it more difficult by moving the deadline for signature turn-in to the date of the primary. Alabama ranks third nationally in disenfranchising formerly incarcerated persons. One out of every 14 Alabama residents is disenfranchised. To regain the right to vote, individuals convicted of crimes of “moral turpitude” who have completed a felony sentence must apply to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles for a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. As soon as you apply for a Pardon you automatically receive the right to vote back. This is the new rule of law and was passed through the House and the Senate due to voter disenfranchisement. In 2007, HB 192 was introduced to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, but it failed in the Constitution & Elections committee.
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.
Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Ohio's filing deadline for independent candidates was unconstitutional.
Nomination rules in elections regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is entitled to stand for election. The right to stand for election is sometimes called passive suffrage, as distinct from active suffrage, which is the right to vote. The criteria to stand as a candidate depends on the individual legal system. They may include the age of a candidate, citizenship, endorsement by a political party and profession. Laws restrictions, such as competence or moral aptitude, can be used in a discriminatory manner. Restrictive and discriminatory nomination rules can impact the civil rights of candidates, political parties, and voters.
N.Y. State Bd. of Elections v. Lopez Torres, 552 U.S. 196 (2008), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court that involved a constitutional challenge brought against New York State's judicial election law, alleging that it unfairly prevented candidates from obtaining access to the ballot. The Supreme Court rejected this challenge and held that the state's election laws did not infringe upon candidates' First Amendment associational rights. Several concurring justices emphasized, however, that their decision reflected only the constitutionality of the state's election system, and not its wisdom or merit.
This article contains lists of official and potential third party and independent candidates associated with the 2016 United States presidential election.
Legal Marijuana Now is a political third party in the United States established in 1998 to oppose drug prohibition. The party's platform focuses on abolishing the Drug Enforcement Agency and legalizing hemp and marijuana.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik, an activist from Los Angeles, California, began with his announcement of candidacy on October 17, 2015. He was formally nominated by the Socialist Party USA for President at their November 2015 convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His running-mate was Angela Nicole Walker, a bus driver and labor organizer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The campaign was on the ballot in two states as well as in the U.S. overseas territory of Guam, which has no electoral votes. It earned 4,061 total votes.
