Ballot access Facts for Kids

This page is about access to elections and right to candidacy in the United States. For right to stand for election elsewhere, see Nomination rules.

Ballot access refers to the rules that decide who can appear on a ballot for an election in the United States. A ballot is the list of choices voters have. These rules affect candidates, political parties, and even proposed laws, called ballot measures.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that there is no basic right for anyone to be a candidate. States have the power to make rules to stop candidates who are not serious or are trying to be dishonest. Because the U.S. Constitution lets states manage their own elections, the rules for getting on the ballot can be very different from one state to another.

To become a candidate, a person usually has to meet certain requirements, like being a certain age, living in the area they want to represent, and being a U.S. citizen. Many states also require candidates to collect a certain number of signatures from voters on a petition or pay a fee.

Why Have Ballot Access Rules?
How Candidates Get on the Ballot
- Rules Are Different in Every State
The Constitution and Fair Elections
What Is a Write-In Candidate?
Challenges for Smaller Parties
Images for kids
See also

Why Have Ballot Access Rules?

One of the main reasons for having ballot access rules is to prevent the ballot from becoming too crowded. Some people worry that if it's too easy to become a candidate, there could be dozens of names on the ballot. This might confuse voters.

This can also lead to "vote splitting." For example, imagine 60% of voters agree on a big issue, but 40% disagree. If two candidates who support the majority view run, they might split the 60% vote (getting 30% each). A single candidate for the minority view could then win with just 40% of the vote, even though most voters wanted something different.

On the other hand, people who want easier ballot access rules say that having more choices is good for democracy. They argue that strict rules often make it hard for new or smaller political parties, called third parties, to compete with the two major parties (the Democratic and Republican parties). They believe voters should have the right to choose from a wide range of candidates and ideas.

How Candidates Get on the Ballot

Getting a name on the ballot isn't automatic. Candidates usually have to follow one of these paths:

Party Nomination: The easiest way is to be chosen by a major political party, like the Democrats or Republicans. These parties have a special status that usually guarantees their candidates a spot on the ballot.
Petition Signatures: Candidates who are not from a major party, known as independent or third-party candidates, often have to collect signatures from registered voters. This process is called "petitioning." The number of signatures needed can be anywhere from a few dozen to tens of thousands.
Filing Fees: Some states allow candidates to pay a fee to get on the ballot, either instead of or in addition to collecting signatures.

Rules Are Different in Every State

Because each state makes its own rules, getting on the ballot can be easy in one state and very difficult in another. For example:

In Louisiana, it is fairly easy to get on the ballot. Candidates can either pay a fee (like $500 for president) or collect a certain number of signatures.
In Georgia, the rules can be much tougher. Candidates from smaller parties running for the U.S. House of Representatives have to collect signatures from 5% of all registered voters in their district, which can be over 20,000 signatures.
In Tennessee, a candidate for the state government only needs to get 25 signatures from registered voters.

These different rules show why it's much easier for third-party candidates to run in some parts of the country than in others.

The Constitution and Fair Elections

While states make the rules, they still have to follow the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution protects certain rights that affect ballot access.

The First Amendment protects the right of people to form political groups and parties.
The Fourteenth Amendment says that laws must treat everyone equally. This means ballot access rules shouldn't unfairly favor one group over another.

The Supreme Court has looked at many cases about ballot access. Sometimes it decides a state's rules are fair, and other times it decides they are unconstitutional because they make it too hard for new candidates to run.

What Is a Write-In Candidate?

If a candidate's name isn't printed on the ballot, voters can sometimes still vote for them by writing their name in. This is called a write-in vote.

However, winning an election as a write-in candidate is extremely rare. It takes a lot of money and organization to let voters know they have to write in a specific name. Most of the time, write-in votes are not enough to win.

A few famous examples of write-in candidates winning are Lisa Murkowski, who won a U.S. Senate seat for Alaska in 2010, and Strom Thurmond, who won a Senate seat for South Carolina in 1954.

Challenges for Smaller Parties

Getting on the ballot is just one of many challenges for smaller political parties in the United States. Other difficulties include:

Raising Money: It is hard for smaller parties to raise the large amounts of money needed to run a campaign.
Media Coverage: News organizations tend to focus on the Democratic and Republican candidates, giving less attention to others.
Presidential Debates: To get into the main presidential debates, a candidate must have at least 15% support in national polls, which is very difficult for a third-party candidate to achieve.
The "Spoiler Effect": Some voters worry that voting for a third-party candidate might "spoil" the election. They fear it could take votes away from a major party candidate they like, causing a candidate they dislike to win. This makes them less likely to vote for a third party.

Images for kids

Activists of the Arizona Green Party collecting signatures to get on the ballot.

Ballot access facts for kids

Contents