Ballot access requirements for political parties in Utah

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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.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS

As of May 2024, Utah officially recognized nine political parties. See the table below for further details.

In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Utah allows candidates to use political party designations.

To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Utah, see this article.

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

Seal of Utah

See statutes: Title 20A-8 of the Utah Election Code

In Utah, there are two types of political parties: registered parties and qualified parties. These types of parties differ in how they nominate candidates for placement on the primary ballot. The candidate of a registered party must petition for placement on the primary ballot. The candidate of a qualified party can either petition for placement on the primary ballot or be nominated for placement at a party convention.

An organization of voters can seek to become a registered political party by submitting a petition to the lieutenant governor's office. The petition must be signed by at least 2,000 registered voters. The petition must also contain a statement declaring the name of the political party. The petition, in addition to the required signatures, must also contain the proposed party's name, which must not exceed four words, and party emblem. The party name and emblem must also be distinguishable from the names and emblems of other political parties.

A qualified political party must meet the requirements of Utah Code 20A-9-406. A qualified party must allow "its candidates to pursue the party’s nomination by going through the party’s convention system and/or by gathering petition signatures. Conversely, a Registered Political Party’s candidates can pursue the party’s nomination only by gathering petition signatures."

Maintaining party status

In order to retain registered and qualified political party status, one or more of the party's candidates for any office must win at least two percent or more of the total votes cast for all candidates for the United States House of Representatives in the same regular general election.

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of May 2024, there were nine recongized political parties in Utah. These are listed in the table below.

Political parties in Utah
Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
Constitution Party of Utah	Link	Party platform
Democratic Party of Utah	Link	Party by-laws
Green Party of Utah	Link	Party platform
Independent American Party of Utah	Link	Party by-laws
Libertarian Party of Utah	Link	Party by-laws
No Labels Party	Link	Party platform
Republican Party of Utah	Link	Governing Documents
United Utah Party	Link	Party platform
Utah Forward Party	Link

Noteworthy events

2017

On May 26, 2017, the filing deadline for political party candidates participating in Utah's 3rd Congressional District special election, election officials rejected prospective candidate Jim Bennett's paperwork, citing the fact that his party (the United Utah Party) was not recognized by the state as a ballot-qualified party at the time of the filing deadline. United Utah Party officials filed party formation paperwork with the state on May 25, 2017. According to Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox , election officials have 30 days from the date of submission to process new party formation paperwork.

On June 22, 2017, Bennett and the United Utah Party filed suit, alleging that election officials, in claiming that they did not have sufficient time in advance of the candidate filing deadline to verify the party formation paperwork submitted by the United Utah Party, violated their constitutional rights. A hearing was scheduled before United States District Court Judge David Nuffer on June 26, 2017. That same day, state election officials indicated that they had verified the party formation paperwork for the United Utah Party.

On August 2, 2017, Nuffer ruled in favor of the United Utah Party (UUP), ordering state election officials to include Bennett's name on the ballot as a candidate of UUP. In his ruling, Nuffer wrote, "Under the standard for constitutional challenges to state election laws articulated by the United States Supreme Court, [the state's special election deadlines and procedures] violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Constitution guarantees the freedom to associate in political parties for the advancement of beliefs and ideas. The state's interests do not require or justify effectively barring UUP and its candidate, Mr. Bennett, from participating in the special election as a new political party." Cox announced that his office would not appeal the decision.

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Utah
• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Utah
• List of political parties in the United States
• Democratic Party of Utah
• Republican Party of Utah

External links

• Utah Democratic Party
• Utah Republican Party

Footnotes

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