Ballot access requirements for political parties in Alaska

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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.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • As of May 2024, there were four officially recognized political parties in Alaska. See the table below for further details.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Alaska allows candidates to use political party designations.
  • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Alaska, see this article.

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status[edit]

    Seal of Alaska

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: 15.80.008 and 15.80.010 of the Alaska Election Law

    Definitions[edit]

    A recognized political party in Alaska is an organized group of voters that represents a political program and has at least 5,000 registered voters in the state.[1][2][3][4]

    A political group in Alaska is an organized group of voters seeking status as a recognized political party. A person affiliated with a political group may file a declaration of candidacy, to appear on the primary election ballot, in the same manner as a person who is affiliated with a political party.[1][2][4]

    A limited political party in Alaska is a political group that organizes for the purpose of selecting candidates for electors for President and Vice President of the United States. A group may file a petition to become a limited political party, and maintains this status if its presidential candidate receives at least three percent of the votes.[1][2][4]

    Requirements[edit]

    To obtain recognized political party status, a political group must perform the following on or before May 31 of the election year for which the group seeks recognition:[4]

    1. File an application with the director of the Alaska Division of Elections requesting that the number of registered voters for their group be tracked
    2. Submit bylaws to the director and the United States Department of Justice
    3. Meet the statutory definition of a "political party" by fulfilling the criteria described above

    Bylaws[edit]

    As noted above, a political group seeking political party status must submit a notice, bylaws, and documentation to the director of the Alaska Division of Elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on September 1 of the calendar year before the year a primary election will be held. These materials must be provided by the party's chairperson or another party official designated by the party's bylaws. Party bylaws must be pre-cleared by the United States Department of Justice before submission. Documentation of the preclearance must accompany the submitted bylaws.[4]

    Political parties[edit]

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of November 2024, there were four recognized political parties in Alaska. These are listed in the table below.[5]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of Alaska Link Party platform
    Alaskan Independence Party Link Party platform
    Libertarian Party of Alaska Link Party platform
    Republican Party of Alaska Link Party platform

    Noteworthy events[edit]

    Changes to ballot access requirements effective January 1, 2023[edit]

    On May 17, 2022, the Alaska state legislature passed Senate Bill 161, which changed the statutory definition of a political party in Alaska. This resulted in a change to the ballot access requirements for political parties in the state. Before SB 161, political groups were required to have "registered voters in the state equal in number to at least three percent of the total votes cast for governor at the preceding general election" in order to become recognized political parties."[2] SB 161 changed this requirement to "at least 5,000 registered voters in the state."[3] The effective date for the changes made in SB 161 was January 1, 2023.[1][3]

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    See also[edit]

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    External links[edit]

    Footnotes[edit]


    Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_access_requirements_for_political_parties_in_Alaska
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