Ballot access requirements for political parties in California

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
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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, California officially recognized six political parties: the American Independent, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, 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. California does not allow candidates to use political party designations.

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

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

Seal of California

See statutes: California Elections Code Section 5000-5006

The process to qualify as an officially recognized political party in California is outlined below.

1. The group wishing to qualify must hold a convention or caucus to elect officers and determine the party name.
2. After the convention, the group must file with the California Secretary of State and qualify in one of two ways:
   • Voter registration method
     • To qualify by voter registration, 0.33 percent of persons who participated in the last gubernatorial election must acknowledge a preference for the group by writing the chosen name of the group on an affidavit of registration. These affidavits must be submitted to county election offices where the voters live 154 days before the primary election. The secretary of state will then determine if the group has qualified as a party no later than 135 days before the primary election.
   • Petition method
     • To qualify by petition, signatures from registered voters equaling 10 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election must be collected. Petitions must be filed with the county election officials in which signatures were collected 135 days prior to the primary election.
3. Once a political party qualifies, it must retain 1/15 of 1 percent (0.06 percent) of the state's total registration of voters in order to maintain its status as an officially recognized political party. Also, a party's candidate for statewide office must earn at least 2 percent of the entire vote in an election, or the party must maintain 0.33 percent of statewide registration in a gubernatorial election year.

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of September 2022, the state of California officially recognized six political parties.

Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
American Independent Party of California	Link	Party platform
Democratic Party of California	Link	Party platform
Green Party of California	Link	Party platform
Libertarian Party of California	Link	Party platform
Peace and Freedom Party of California	Link	Party platform
Republican Party of California	Link	Party platform

Historical events

2014

At the December 31, 2013 deadline, the Americans Elect Party had registered only about 5,000 members, well shy of the approximately 12,000 voters were needed. Instead of revoking the party's qualified status, the California Secretary of State ruled that the party was ballot-qualified through the November 2014 general election. The California Secretary of State explained that no party could lose its status unless it was the beginning of a presidential election year. Therefore, the Americans Elect Party had two more years to increase its voter registration numbers.

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See also

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

External links

• California Democratic Party
• California Republican Party