Ballot access requirements for political parties in Alabama

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
Ballot access for presidential candidates
List of political parties in the United States
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Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

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 September 2022, Alabama officially recognized three political parties: the Democratic, Libertarian, 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. Alabama does not allow candidates to use political party designations.

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

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

Seal of Alabama

See statutes: Title 17 of the Code of Alabama

In Alabama, a political party is defined as an organization of voters whose candidate for a state office receives at least 20 percent of the total votes cast for that office in the general election. If a party does not meet this threshold, its members must follow the requirements set forth in Title 17 of the Code of Alabama to become ballot-qualified. This process is outlined below.

1. The party seeking official recognition by the state must submit the party's emblem to the Alabama Secretary of State 60 days before the primary election. The emblem can be any graphic that provides a distinctive heading on a ballot, does not too closely resemble another party's emblem, and is no more than 1.5 inches square.
2. After the party emblem has been filed, but before the primary election, the new party must hold a mass meeting or convention to nominate candidates. Public notice of the meeting must be given five days in advance throughout the county where the convention will be held.
3. After the meeting/convention, the new party must file a certificate of nomination with the secretary of state for each candidate nominated. These are due on the day of the primary election. Candidates of new parties will not be allowed access to the ballot if they ran in the primary election for another political party that same year.
4. With the certificates of nomination, a petition containing the signatures of registered voters equal to 3 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last general election must also be filed with the secretary of state.
5. The party must run a candidate for state office who must receive at least 20 percent of the total votes cast for that office in the general election. If a candidate does not meet this threshold, the party must start the process over again for the next general election.

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of September 2022, Alabama officially recognized three political parties. To be officially recognized by the state, a political party's candidate for state office must receive at least 20 percent of the vote cast in the general election. The state does, however, allow parties to be recognized in only parts of the state.

Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
Democratic Party of Alabama	Link	Party by-laws
Libertarian Party of Alabama	Link	Party by-laws
Republican Party of Alabama	Link	Party by-laws

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Alabama
• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Alabama
• List of political parties in the United States
• Democratic Party of Alabama
• Republican Party of Alabama

External links

• Alabama Democratic Party
• Alabama Republican Party