Ballot access requirements for political parties in Michigan

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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, there were seven officially recognized political parties in Michigan: the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, Republican, U.S. Taxpayers, and Working Class 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. Michigan does not allow candidates to use political party designations.

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

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

    Seal of Michigan

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Michigan Election Law, Section 168.685

    Political organizations seeking status as political parties must petition the secretary of state for recognition. In addition to the requisite petition, the chairperson and secretary of the state central committee of a prospective party must file a certificate signed by both the chairperson and the secretary indicating the name of the party. This paperwork must be submitted to the secretary of state by 4:00 p.m. on the 110th day preceding the general election.[1][2]

    Petitions must contain signatures equaling at least 1 percent of all votes cast for governor at the most recent gubernatorial election. Additionally, party organizers must collect at least 100 signatures in each of at least one-half of the state's congressional districts.[1][2][3]

    All signatures must be obtained no more than 180 days prior to the date of filing the petition with the secretary of state. Signatures collected before that time will not be counted. A decision regarding the sufficiency of the petition will be made no later than 60 days prior to the general election.[1][2]

    Maintaining party status

    In order to maintain qualified status, a party's principal candidate (i.e., the party's candidate who receives the greatest number of votes of all candidates fielded by the party in a particular election) must win at least 1 percent of the total number of votes cast for the successful candidate for secretary of state in the most recent election for that office. For example, in 2010, 1,608,270 votes were cast for the successful candidate for secretary of state, meaning that a party's principal candidate had to win at least 16,083 votes for the party to retain qualified status. A party that fails to meet this requirement must petition again for state recognition.[1][2][4]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of May 2024, there were seven recognized political parties in Michigan.[5]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of Michigan Link Party platform
    Green Party of Michigan Link Party platform
    Libertarian Party of Michigan Link Party by-laws
    Natural Law Party of Michigan Link Party platform
    Republican Party of Michigan Link Party platform
    U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan Link Party platform
    Working Class Party of Michigan Link

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    See also

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Michigan Election Law, "Section 168.685," accessed February 26, 2014
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Michigan Department of State, "New Political Party Qualification," accessed February 26, 2014
    3. ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - General Election - Governor - November 2, 2010," accessed February 26, 2014
    4. ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - General Election - Secretary of State - November 2, 2010," accessed February 26, 2014
    5. ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Petition Manual: New Political Party Qualification," accessed May 14, 2024
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