Ballot access requirements for political parties in Connecticut
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Ballot access for major and minor party candidates |
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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.
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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.
To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Connecticut, see this article.
Process for a political party to obtain ballot status
See statutes: Chapter 153 of the Connecticut Statutes
Qualifying a minor party
The following steps must be followed in order to establish a minor party in Connecticut:[1]
- The political organization wishing to become a minor party must run a candidate by petition with a party designation. If the candidate receives 1 percent of the votes cast for the office he or she sought, the minor party will be officially recognized for that office and be able to nominate candidates for that office without collecting signatures on a petition for the next election.
- The minor party must file a copy of the party rules with the Connecticut Secretary of State. The rules must detail how the minor party will nominate its candidates in the next election and must be filed 60 days before the next election in which the party wishes to nominate a candidate.[2]
- The minor party must continue to run candidates for the offices for which it has already qualified for as the offices come up for re-election. Failure to do so will result in the loss of minor party status for that office.
Qualifying a major party
Major party recognition can be achieved if one of the following criteria is met:[3]
- The party's candidate for governor at the most recent general election received at least 20 percent of the total votes cast for that office.
- At the time of the most recent general election for governor, at least 20 percent of the total number of registered voters had enrolled with the party.
Convention requirements
In Connecticut, a convention is a meeting of political party delegates held for the purpose of transacting party business, such as nominating candidates to run in a primary election.[3]
Minor party convention requirements
A minor party cannot appoint delegates to a convention unless the party's rules have been submitted to the secretary of state at least 60 days prior.[2]
At least five days before a convention is held to nominate candidates, written notice of the date, time, location, and purpose of the convention must be submitted to the secretary of state. This information must also be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the district of the office or offices for which candidates will be nominated at the convention.[4]
Major party convention requirements
Major party delegates to a state or district convention may be selected by a caucus of enrolled members of the major party or by town committees of the major party. Delegates must be selected no earlier than the 140th day and no later than the 132nd day prior to the date of the primary election.[5][6]
A major party's state or district convention must be held no earlier than the 98th day and no later than the 77th day preceding the primary election.[7]
Political parties
As of September 2022, Connecticut officially recognized six political parties. [8][1]
| Party | Website link | By-laws/platform link |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party of Connecticut | Link | Party platform |
| Green Party of Connecticut | Link | Party platform |
| Independent Party of Connecticut | Link | |
| Libertarian Party of Connecticut | Link | Party by-laws |
| Republican Party of Connecticut | Link | Party by-laws |
| Working Families Party of Connecticut | Link |
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See also
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Connecticut
- Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Connecticut
- List of political parties in the United States
- Democratic Party of Connecticut
- Republican Party of Connecticut
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Connecticut Secretary of State Website, "Minor Parties in Connecticut," accessed February 24, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ctminorparties" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part I, Section 9-374," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part I, Section 9-372," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-452a," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-390," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-391," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-383," accessed February 26, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State Website, "Elections and Voting," accessed September 14, 2022
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