Former Gov. Bill Weld, the Libertarian vice-presidential nominee, submitted signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office to secure state ballot access for the Johnson-Weld ticket in November.
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“My analysis”, Weld said, “is as I was saying before: we have a path to run right up the middle and win the whole thing here”.
Candidates for president must collect at least 10,000 certified signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot in MA, and the Johnson-Weld campaign had already submitted 9,200 signatures.
Given the various petition deadlines and ballot access rules across states, such placeholder candidates are common, said Carla Howell, the national Libertarian Party’s political director.
Libertarians are not recognized as a minor political party in OH, so activists sought to collect at least 5,000 valid signatures from voters to get their party’s candidate on the fall ballot as an independent.
Johnson is on track to be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Howell said, noting OH has been “one of the worst” states for access.
Appearing on ballots nationwide is a major challenge for the third parties.
Candidates have to carry 15 percent of the vote in five national polls to participate in the presidential debates – a tall order for third-party candidates in any election year.
“What we’re doing today is giving Ohioans another choice”, Bob Bridges, the chair of the state’s Libertarian Party, told reporters outside Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office.
Even if Johnson and Weld make Ohio’s ballot, both would lack the party’s label or any designation. Green Party candidate Jill Stein is polling fourth and needs to gain a lot more ground to be included. They’ve filed their paperwork to get on Ohio’s ballot.
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To appear on the debate stage, candidates must appear on enough state ballots to have a chance at winning 270 electoral votes and have at least 15 percent support in five recent national public polls, according to criteria the commission adopted previous year. Johnson is close enough in the polls that the venues hosting this fall’s debates have to prepare for him.
