Third-party access?

Ralph Nader won't be one of the options during the Nov. 2 election in Oklahoma. Why do third-party presidential candidates have such a difficult time getting on the ballot in this state?

BY DEBORAH BENJAMIN

Oklahoma Gazette : November 20, 2004

When Oklahoma voters head to the polls, they'll have two choices for president: Democratic Sen. John Kerry and Republican incumbent George W. Bush.

But what if a voter doesn't like either Democratic or Republican candidate? What if a voter wants to see independent Ralph Nader, the Constitution Party's Michael Peroutka, Libertarian Michael Badnarik or the Green Party's David Cobb as the next U.S. president? What then?

Several local third-party leaders say the Sooner State's restrictive ballot access laws, namely for presidential candidates, make it impossible for people to vote their conscience - in other words, make it impossible for voters to select third-party or independent candidates for the office of U.S. president.

With only two choices, people often take a "lesser of evils" approach to voting, said James Branum, Green Party of Oklahoma co-chair.

Oklahoma's ballot access laws are considered the most restrictive in the nation, according to Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News.

According to Michael Clingman, Oklahoma State Election Board secretary, the petition requirement for a political party wanting full party ballot access is the collection of signatures equivalent to 5 percent of the votes cast in the last general election (51,781); to get on the ballot as a presidential candidate if one is not from a recognized party requires a signature collection of 3 percent of the votes cast in the last general election (37,027).

Tom Laurent, Central Oklahoma Libertarian Party chair, said third-party presidential candidates have a difficult time getting on the ballot in Oklahoma. The No.1 reason is the need to collect thousands of signatures, which takes time and money. Sometimes third parties use volunteer petitioners, but oftentimes, Laurent said, those individuals collecting signatures are professionals who get paid from $1 to $3 per name - money that could be used for advertising or educational campaigns. Laurent said a third party should expect to spend about $100,000 in petitioning expenses.

Oklahoma Libertarians collected 26,000 signatures, according to a press release, neither enough for full party access nor to put a candidate on the ballot independently in Oklahoma.

"The Libertarian Party has been in Oklahoma for 30 years, and we've been fighting this thing every year, one way or another," Laurent said. "It's just a bear."

Oklahoma is one of five states that also doesn't allow write-in votes. But those other four states, according to Winger, will have several more presidential candidate options on their ballots.

For Branum, the presidential choices on Oklahoma's ballot - Bush and Kerry - aren't to his liking. "They may have slightly different spins on them, but if you look at the voting records and the specifics of what they're going to do, there's no difference between the two," he said. "So, basically what they're leaving us with is vote for someone that doesn't really represent what you believe in or not vote at all."

Third parties plan to lobby the Legislature for "fair ballot access." As a last resort they will prepare to let the voting public determine what is fair ballot access through an initiative petition.

Chandler resident Thom Holmes, who serves on the Constitution party's national executive committee, said third parties historically have had a political impact and can be difference-makers. As PBS.org notes, third parties have been instrumental in women's suffrage, as well as fair labor laws.

In recent memory, 1992 Reform Party presidential candidate H. Ross Perot extolled the virtues of fiscal responsibility by railing about deficit spending, and ended up with 19 percent of the popular vote in that election.

"(Perot's) whole focus was balance the budget - get the nation back on track financially - and you know what happened? Over the next six years, that was the focus," Holmes said. "Maybe he didn't win and get to the Oval Office, but his campaign brought attention to that issue, and Republicans and Democrats alike focused on it and got it done."

Holmes added that third parties can bring new ideas into the public light and that their inclusion in the voting process aids in encouraging democracy.

"... What third parties want to do is really help create a true system where people can vote for who they want to instead of just get what they get," Holmes said.

So how can Oklahoma remedy the lack of third-party presidential candidates on the ballot?

Winger, who is also on the editorial board of the Election Law Journal, said one of the best ways to loosen the reins of Oklahoma's strict ballot access laws is to allow presidential candidates the ability to follow the same rules that candidates do for other offices in the Sooner State. For instance, to run as an independent candidate for the state Legislature, one only needs to pay a small fee. Winger said a fee system for presidential candidates hasn't created any hassles in other states, citing Louisiana as a prime example.

"Oklahoma already is accustomed to this idea because Oklahoma lets an independent candidate for any other office, except president, get on a general election ballot just by paying a filing fee," Winger said. "So the concept is already there in Oklahoma's law. To me it would be the essence of simplicity to just extend that to presidential independents."