Ballot access requirements for political parties in Maine

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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, Maine officially recognized five political parties: the Democratic, Green Independent, Libertarian, No Labels, and Republican parties.
  • 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. Maine allows candidates to use political party designations.

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

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

    Seal of Maine

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Title 21-A, Article 1 of the Maine Revised Statutes

    Party formation

    Political parties in Maine can obtain official recognition in one of two ways: organization around a candidate or organization by party enrollment. These two methods are detailed below.

    Organization around a candidate

    A voter or group of voters not enrolled in a qualified political party may file a declaration of intent to form a new political party. The form of the declaration is prescribed by the secretary of state and must include the following information:[1]
    1. the designation of the proposed party
    2. the name of a candidate for governor or president in the most recent general election who was nominated by petition and who received at least 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for those offices
    3. the signed consent of the aforementioned candidate
    4. the name, address, telephone number (if published), and signature of the voter or one of the group of voters who files the declaration
    The declaration of intent must be filed with the secretary of state before 5:00 p.m. on the 180th day preceding the next primary election. After filing the declaration, the voter or group of voters may enroll voters in the proposed party.[1]

    Organization by party enrollment

    A group of 10 or more voters who are not enrolled in a qualified political party may file a declaration of intent to form a party with the secretaryof state between December 1 and December 30 of an even-numbered year. The form of the declaration is prescribed by the secretary of state and must include the following information:[2]

    1. the designation of the proposed party
    2. the names, addresses, telephone number (if published), and signatures of the voters who are filing the declaration

    Within five business days of receipt, the secretary of state will certify whether the declaration is sufficient and notify the applicants that they may begin enrolling voters in the proposed party. By December 1 of the odd-numbered year following the filing of the declaration of intent, the applicants must file a certification with the secretary of state indicating that at least 5,000 voters have enrolled in the proposed party. The secretary of state will verify these enrollment figures within five business days of receipt and notify the applicants whether the proposed party may participate in a primary election in the next even-numbered year.[2]

    Procedural requirements

    A newly qualified political party must conduct municipal caucuses in at least one municipality in each of the state's 16 counties during the election year. Municipal caucuses are held every two years to elect delegates to the state convention and to tend to any other party business. The chair of the municipal committee (if one has been formed) or a resident voter enrolled in the party must file a copy of the caucus notice with the secretary of state by 5:00 p.m. on March 20. The caucus notice must be published in a newspaper "having general circulation in the municipality" at least three and no more than seven days before the caucus. The caucus notice may also be posted in a "conspicuous, public place in each voting district in the municipality" at least seven days prior to the caucus. The notice must contain the name of the party, the time and place of the caucus, and the name of the person calling it.[1][2][3]

    A newly qualified party must also hold a state convention. The voter or group of voters who filed the declaration of intent may perform the convention duties normally performed by a party's state committee during the new party's first state convention. The following must be done at the state convention:

    1. electing a secretary and a chair of the convention, in that order
    2. adopting a platform for the next general election
    3. nominating the number of presidential electors to which Maine is entitled
    4. determining the size of the state, district, and county committees and methods of election
    5. electing a district committee for each congressional district
    6. electing a county committee for each county from individuals nominated at municipal caucuses held in the county (unless party rules provide for county committee members to be elected directly by their municipalities)[4]

    Maintaining party status

    To maintain qualified status, a political party's designation must have been listed on the ballot in either of the two preceding general elections. Further, the party must also meet all of the following requirements:

    1. The party must have held municipal caucuses in at least one municipality in a minimum of 14 counties during the election year in which the designation appeared on the ballot and any interim election year and must do the same during the year of the primary election.
    2. The party must have held a state convention during the election year in which the designation appeared on the ballot and any interim election year.
    3. At least 10,000 voters must be registered with the party as of Election Day.[5][6]

    A party can also maintain its qualified status if its candidate for governor or president polled at least 5 percent of total votes cast in either of the last two elections.[6]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of May 2024, there were five recognized political parties in Maine. These are listed in the table below.[7]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of Maine Link Party by-laws
    Green Independent Party of Maine Link Party by-laws
    Libertarian Party of Maine[8] Link Party by-laws
    No Labels Party Link Party platform
    Republican Party of Maine Link Party by-laws

    Noteworthy events

    Libertarian Party of Maine sued the state over ballot access requirements (2019-2022)

    On November 7, 2019, the Libertarian Party of Maine sued the Maine Secretary of State over the party's decertification. The lawsuit called the state's ballot access requirements overly burdensome. The Libertarian Party was ballot-qualified in Maine in 2016 after meeting the registration threshold of more than 5,000 members. However, state law also required a minimum of 10,000 party members to cast votes in the following election in 2018. When that did not happen, the Libertarian Party was decertified and the voter registrations of its party members were changed to unaffiliated.[9]

    On December 29, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker ordered Maine election officials to allow Libertarian Party members to re-enroll and nominate candidates for the 2022 elections. The order required Maine's secretary of state to send letters to Libertarian party members informing them that the changes made to their voter registrations was unlawful and that they may rejoin the party. The judge ruled that Libertarians could nominate candidates for the 2022 election, regardless of whether they met the membership threshold because of tight timetables.[10]

    On October 26, 2022, Judge Walker issued a final order in this case reiterating that it was unconstitutional for the state to unenroll a party’s registered members. The order required Maine's secretary of state to keep the Libertarian Party as an option on voter registration forms. However, it did not ensure ballot access for the Libertarian Party in 2024. The party would need to meet the same requirements that were in force in 2016 in order to appear on the ballot. [11]

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 5, Article 1, Section 302," accessed February 10, 2014
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 5, Article 1, Section 303," accessed February 10, 2014
    3. ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 5, Article 2, Section 311," accessed February 10, 2014
    4. ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 5, Article 3, Section 321," accessed February 10, 2014
    5. ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 5, Article 1, Section 301," accessed February 10, 2014
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ballot Access News, "Maine Makes it Somewhat Easier for a Party to Remain Ballot-Qualified," June 24, 2021
    7. ↑ Department of the Secretary of State of Maine, "Maine Voter Registration Application," accessed May 23, 2024
    8. ↑ On December 31, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Lance E. Walker ordered that the Libertarian Party be granted ballot status for the 2022 election cycle. See Walker's order for more information.
    9. ↑ The Center Square Maine, “Maine Libertarians suing over state's moves to unenroll voters from party,” November 14, 2019
    10. ↑ NBC News Maine, “Libertarians to be reenrolled, nominate candidates in Maine,” January 3, 2022
    11. ↑ Ballot Access News, “U.S. District Court Issues Final Order in Maine Libertarian Ballot Access Lawsuit,” October 28, 2022
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