Political Party Designation

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A political party designation is used when a candidate qualifies to run for office as an independent but desires that a different label be printed next to his or her name on the ballot.

Some states only allow candidates to use an officially recognized political party name on the ballot. Other states allow candidates to designate any label they choose, so long as it is not too similar to that of an existing party.

Political party designations have not qualified as official political parties in states and would therefore not be entitled to primaries.

States that allow designations[edit]

There are 22 states that allow candidates to use political party designations other than those of officially recognized parties in non-presidential elections.[1]

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin

States that do not allow designations[edit]

There are 28 states, and Washington D.C., that do not allow candidates to use political party designations other than those of officially recognized parties in non-presidential elections.[1]

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana**
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Mexico
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota**
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Washington, D.C.
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

**Note: Louisiana and North Dakota allow presidential candidates to choose a label other than of an officially recognized political party. These states do not allow candidates for other offices to identify in this way.[2]

See also[edit]

  • Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
  • Party labels

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 These lists were compiled from state-by-state research conducted by Ballotpedia in April 2021.
  2. ↑ Email consultation with ballot access expert Richard Winger in January 2014.
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