For North Carolinians who would like to see a vibrant third party, state law says no. Democrats and Republicans have conspired for years to ensure that only their two parties get candidates on the ballot.
In terms of getting third parties on the ballot, North Carolina state law is one of the most restrictive in the country. To get on the ballot, a third party must collect enough signatures on petitions to equal 2 percent of the total vote in the last gubernatorial election. For this year, that is 69,000 certified signatures of registered voters. Then, if the party does not draw a sufficient number of votes in that election, it can lose its certification for the next election cycle.
The burden is considerable. The parties probably have to collect 100,000 signatures to ensure that they get 69,000 that can be certified as valid registered voters. Minor parties report that they spend most of their efforts at this petition process and, therefore, even if they are successful, have few resources left over to use on spreading their ideas.
The purpose of the law, of course, is to keep the competition to a minimum. Republicans and Democrats can agree on very little in this state other than that they know best and, therefore, that they should dominate the political discussion.
The two major parties defend their positions on this exclusivity. They say parties and candidates should have to demonstrate a measure of political support before they are allowed on the ballot. Otherwise, anyone could just walk into the county elections office and demand a spot for his “party” on the ballot. This would confuse voters and lead to ballots that are too long.
Implicit in this argument is the notion that the Democrats and Republicans have some kind of exclusive grip on thoughtful, committed candidates. That’s not the case. Consider that the Libertarian Party, if it can just get on this year’s ballot, will run Mike Munger, a political scientist on the faculty of Duke University, for governor.
The Libertarians and the Green Party are suing the state, hoping the courts will force North Carolina to adopt more reasonable certification standards. The case began Monday in Wake County Superior Court.
We all have a stake in this battle. In the United States, we’ve traditionally had a two-party system. But, we’ve also been blessed, at important times in our history, to have third parties challenge tweedledum and tweedledee. These third parties bring new and fresh approaches to the political discourse.
Given the stagnation in our government these days with the same-old, same-old holding sway, a strong third-party movement might be just what we need to shake things up and get this state moving forward.
