Inside the push to block ballot access for third parties
Image: Kennedy24
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign was dealt a blow on Monday, when a judge ruled his name shouldn’t appear on New York’s ballot in November because RFK Jr. falsely claimed his place of residency on nominating petitions.
The New York judge overseeing the legal challenge – which was backed by a Democratic-aligned PAC – concluded the rented bedroom Kennedy claimed as his residence in New York was a “sham address,” since evidence shows he actually resides in California.
- New York residency is especially important to Kennedy because his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, lists California as her home state.
- And under a constitutional quirk, presidential and VP candidates who both hail from the same state are ineligible to receive that state’s electoral votes – so RFK Jr. claiming residency in California would prevent him from capturing its 54 electoral votes.
The suit stems from a nationwide effort to challenge ballot access for third parties. The Democratic Party has dedicated a substantial legal and ground operation to challenging ballot access for third-party candidates like Kennedy, progressive activist Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein, whom party leaders view as potential threats to the Democratic ticket.
- The aim “is to ensure all the candidates are playing by the rules, and to seek to hold them accountable when they are not,” according to Robert Lenhard, a lawyer co-leading the Democratic Party’s legal offensive.
- While the Republican Party hasn’t launched a nationwide anti-third-party campaign this election season, GOP officials in several states have backed efforts to prevent Kennedy, West, Stein, and/or Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver from appearing on November’s presidential ballot.
Big picture: Third-party candidates typically struggle to compete in presidential elections, with the most successful third-party run in modern US history – Ross Perot’s 1992 campaign – receiving ~19% of the popular vote and zero electoral votes.
Many experts attribute this to two main reasons:
- Federal law mandates that all members of Congress are elected from single-member districts, meaning only one person – and one party – represents any single voting district (which naturally resolves into a two-party system, per Duverger's law).
- Democratic and GOP-controlled state legislatures have given themselves automatic pathways to being on the ballot each election, while imposing relatively difficult requirements for all other parties. This entrenchment also makes it difficult for third-party candidates to be admitted into presidential debates, or drum up enough support to secure 270+ electoral votes.
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that the obstacles third parties and independent candidates face to getting on ballots represent a shameless attempt to discourage diversity of political activism in America, and should be legislated out of existence.
- Others contend that Americans who yearn for a third political party should likely expect disappointment in the near future – though there is an opportunity for an economically liberal and socially conservative third party to win followers by starting at the local level.
- “End third-party injustices in New York” –Albany Times-Union Editorial Board
- “Most Americans yearn for a third party. Don’t hold your breath.” –Paul Waldman, WaPo
- “Voting for a third party won't save our democracy” –Billy Knight, Taos News
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that states should change their laws to make it easier to run for office as a third-party or independent candidate – but there’s little realistic chance of that happening, since neither Democrats or Republicans want it.
- Others contend that laws should be adjusted so that third-party candidates are encouraged in local elections, since it will not only give voters more options, but also likely draw more people to the polls altogether.
- “Hard to run as a 3rd-party candidate, but it's easy to challenge them when they try” –Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Editorial Board
- “Americans Want a Third Party. It's Time To Lower the Barriers to Entry” –Sarah Stogner, Newsweek
- “Democrats Try to Knock Out No Labels” –WSJ Editorial Board
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