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Ballot access for major and minor party candidates

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Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
Ballot access for presidential candidates
Select a state below to learn more about ballot access requirements for candidates in that state.
Ballot access requirements for political parties in the United States
List of political parties in the United States
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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.


In order to get on the ballot, a candidate or party must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether and how a candidate or party can appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level and apply to state and congressional candidates.

There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.

  1. An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
  2. An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
  3. An individual can run as a write-in candidate.

For state-specific ballot access requirements, select a state from the map below.

http://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_access_requirements_for_political_candidates_in_STATE



For additional information about ballot access requirements for presidential candidates, see this article.

Ballot access in 2020

The table below lists statewide candidate filing deadlines and primary dates in 2020.

Primary dates and filing deadlines, 2020
State Filing deadline for primary candidates Primary date Primary runoff date
Alabama 11/08/2019 03/03/2020 7/14/2020[1]
Arkansas 11/12/2019 03/03/2020 03/31/2020
Illinois 12/02/2019 03/17/2020 N/A
California 12/06/2019 03/03/2020 N/A
Texas 12/09/2019 03/03/2020 07/14/2020[2]
Ohio 12/18/2019 04/28/2020[3] N/A
North Carolina 12/20/2019[4] 03/03/2020 06/23/2020[5]
Mississippi 01/10/2020 03/10/2020 06/23/2020[6]
Kentucky 01/10/2020 06/23/2020[7] N/A
Maryland 01/24/2020 06/02/2020[8] N/A
West Virginia 01/25/2020 06/09/2020[9] N/A
Indiana 02/07/2020 06/02/2020[10] N/A
Pennsylvania 02/18/2020 06/02/2020[11] N/A
Nebraska 03/02/2020 05/12/2020 N/A
Georgia 03/06/2020 06/09/2020[12] 08/11/2020[13]
Montana 03/09/2020 06/02/2020 N/A
New Mexico 03/10/2020 06/02/2020 N/A
Oregon 03/10/2020 05/19/2020 N/A
Idaho 03/13/2020 06/02/2020[14] N/A
Iowa 03/13/2020 06/02/2020 N/A
Nevada 03/13/2020 06/09/2020 N/A
Maine 03/16/2020 07/14/2020[15] N/A
Colorado 03/17/2020 06/30/2020 N/A
Utah 03/19/2020 06/30/2020 N/A
Virginia 03/26/2020 06/23/2020[16] N/A
New Jersey 03/30/2020 07/07/2020[17] N/A
South Carolina 03/30/2020 06/09/2020 06/23/2020
Missouri 03/31/2020 08/04/2020 N/A
South Dakota 03/31/2020 06/02/2020 08/11/2020
New York 04/02/2020 06/23/2020 N/A
Tennessee 04/02/2020 08/06/2020 N/A
Arizona 04/06/2020 08/04/2020 N/A
North Dakota 04/06/2020 06/09/2020 N/A
Oklahoma 04/10/2020 06/30/2020 08/25/2020
Michigan 04/21/2020 (offices with option to pay filing fee) &
05/08/2020 (offices requiring nominating petitions)[18]		 08/04/2020 N/A
Florida 04/24/2020 (congressional and judicial offices) &
6/12/2020 (state legislators)		 08/18/2020 N/A
Massachusetts 05/05/2020 (local) & 06/02/2020 (state)[19] 09/01/2020 N/A
Washington 05/15/2020 08/04/2020 N/A
Vermont 05/28/2020 08/11/2020 N/A
Wyoming 05/29/2020 08/18/2020 N/A
Alaska 06/01/2020 08/18/2020 N/A
Kansas 06/01/2020 08/04/2020 N/A
Wisconsin 06/01/2020 08/11/2020 N/A
Hawaii 06/02/2020 08/08/2020 N/A
Minnesota 06/02/2020 08/11/2020 N/A
Connecticut 06/11/2020[20] 08/11/2020 N/A
New Hampshire 06/12/2020 09/08/2020 N/A
Rhode Island 06/24/2020 (declaration of candidacy due)
07/10/2020 (nomination papers due)		 09/08/2020 N/A
Delaware 07/14/2020 09/15/2020 N/A
Louisiana 07/24/2020[21] 11/03/2020 N/A

Ballot access in 2019

The table below lists statewide candidate filing deadlines and primary dates in 2019.

Primary dates and filing deadlines, 2019
State Filing deadline for primary candidates Primary date
Wisconsin 1/2/2019 2/19/2019
Kentucky 1/29/2019 5/21/2019
Mississippi 3/1/2019 8/6/2019
Pennsylvania 3/12/2019 5/21/2019
Virginia 3/21/2019 6/11/2019
Idaho 3/22/2019 No primary
New Jersey 4/1/2019 6/4/2019
Louisiana 8/8/2019 10/12/2019

Court cases

Below is a listing of court cases relevant to ballot access law. These are listed in chronological order.

Supreme Court of the United States

Williams v. Rhodes

See also: Williams v. Rhodes

Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1968, Williams v. Rhodes held that state laws regulating the selection of presidential electors must meet the requirements of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.[22]

Bullock v. Carter

See also: Bullock v. Carter

Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1972, Bullock v. Carter held that the Texas primary filing fee system, which required the payment of fees as high as $8,900, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The court found that, under this system, "many potential office seekers lacking both personal wealth and affluent backers are, in every practical sense, precluded from seeking the nomination of their chosen party, no matter how qualified they might be and no matter how broad or enthusiastic their popular support."[23][24]

Lubin v. Panish

See also: Lubin v. Panish

Lubin v. Panish, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1974, held that, absent alternative means of ballot access, states cannot require indigent candidates to pay filing fees they cannot afford. To do so violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as the rights of expression and association guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.[25]

Storer v. Brown

See also: Storer v. Brown

Storer v. Brown, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1974, upheld as constitutional a California law forbidding ballot access to independent candidates who had been registered with a qualified political party within one year prior to the immediately preceding primary election. The ruling also established a test to gauge the level of burden imposed by signature requirements: if the number of signatures required is divided by the number of eligible signers and the resulting percentage is greater than five percent, the requirement is likely unconstitutional.[26]

Illinois v. Socialist Workers Party

See also: Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party

Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1979, the ruling in Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party rendered unconstitutional an Illinois statutory requirement that new political parties and independent candidates for elections in political subdivisions (specifically, Chicago) gather more than the number of signatures required for elections for statewide office.[27]

Anderson v. Celebrezze

See also: Anderson v. Celebrezze

Anderson v. Celebrezze, a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1983, held that Ohio's early filing deadline for independent presidential candidates violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, placing an unconstitutional burden on the voting and associational rights of supporters of independent presidential candidates.[28][29]

Norman v. Reed

See also: Norman v. Reed

Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1992, Norman v. Reed held that it was unconstitutional for Illinois to require a new political party and its candidates to gather more than 25,000 signatures (the threshold for statewide office) to participate in elections for offices in political subdivisions. The ruling was, in part, a reaffirmation of the court's earlier decision in Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party.[30]

U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton

See also: U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton

U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton was a 1995 case in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided against U.S. Term Limits, ruling that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress stricter than those specified in the Constitution. The decision invalidated congressional term limits provisions in 23 states.[31]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Note: Alabama's primary runoff election was postponed from March 31 to July 14, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  2. ↑ Note: Texas' primary runoff election was postponed from May 26 to July 14, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  3. ↑ Note: Ohio's primary election was postponed from March 17 to April 28, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  4. ↑ Note: On November 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of North Carolina's state superior court issued an order delaying the congressional candidate filing period for the 2020 election cycle while the state's U.S. House district plan was reviewed. The filing period for U.S. House candidates, set to open on December 2 and close on December 20, 2019, was temporarily delayed while a three-panel judge heard arguments on December 2, 2019. The judges ruled that the redrawn congressional maps should stand, meaning the filing period would open and close as scheduled.
  5. ↑ Note: North Carolina's primary runoff election was postponed from May 12 to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  6. ↑ Note: Mississippi's primary runoff election was postponed from March 31 to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  7. ↑ Note: Kentucky's primary election was postponed from May 19 to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  8. ↑ Note: Maryland's primary election was postponed from April 28 to June 2, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  9. ↑ Note: West Virginia's primary election was postponed from May 12 to June 9, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  10. ↑ Note: Indiana's primary election was postponed from May 5 to June 2, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  11. ↑ Note: Pennsylvania's primary election was postponed from April 28 to June 2, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  12. ↑ Note: Georgia's primary election was postponed from May 19 to June 9, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  13. ↑ Note: Georgia's primary runoff election was postponed from July 21 to August 11, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  14. ↑ Note: Idaho's primary election election was postponed from May 19 to June 2, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  15. ↑ Note: Maine's primary election was postponed from June 9 to July 14, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  16. ↑ Note: Virginia's primary election was postponed from June 9 to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  17. ↑ Note: New Jersey's primary election was postponed from June 2 to July 7, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  18. ↑ Note: Michigan's primary filing deadline was postponed from April 21 to May 8, 2020, for offices that require nominating petitions and do not have the option to pay a filing fee to access the ballot. The change was in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  19. ↑ To appear on the ballot in Massachusetts, prospective candidates must submit nomination papers for certification to the registrars of the cities or towns in which signatures were collected and to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The local filing deadline must occur four weeks prior to the candidate's second filing deadline with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. In 2020, the local-level filing deadline was May 5 and the state-level filing deadline was June 2. Click here to learn more.
  20. ↑ Note: Connecticut's candidate filing deadlines were postponed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  21. ↑ Note: Louisiana's candidate filing deadlines were postponed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  22. ↑ Justia.com, "Williams v. Rhodes - 393 U.S. 23 (1968)," accessed December 26, 2013
  23. ↑ Justia.com, "Bullock v. Carter - 405 U.S. 134 (1972)," accessed December 26, 2013
  24. ↑ Frontline, "The Constitution and Campaign Finance: A Legal Movement for Change," accessed December 26, 2013
  25. ↑ Justia.com, "Lubin v. Panish - 415 U.S. 709 (1974)," accessed December 26, 2013
  26. ↑ Justia.com, "Storer v. Brown - 415 U.S. 724 (1974)," accessed April 1, 2014
  27. ↑ Justia.com, "Illinois State Bd. of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party - 440 U.S. 173 (1979)," accessed December 26, 2013
  28. ↑ Justia.com, "Anderson v. Celebrezze - 460 U.S. 780 (1983)," accessed December 26, 2013
  29. ↑ Oyez Project - U.S. Supreme Court Media - IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, "Anderson v. Celebrezze," accessed December 26, 2013
  30. ↑ Justia.com, "Norman v. Reed - 502 U.S. 279 (1992)," accessed December 27, 2013
  31. ↑ Justia.com, "U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton - 514 U.S. 779 (1994)," accessed December 27, 2013

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