None of the five minor parties seeking ballot access turned in sufficient signatures by Tuesday’s deadline. Only the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian Parties’ candidates will be on the general election ballot. A party is automatically eligible for the ballot if at least one of its statewide candidates received at least 5% of the vote in the last general election.
Parties without automatic ballot access needed to collect at least 47,183 valid signatures during a 75-day period that began shortly after the March primary election. Signatures must come from registered voters who did not participate in any other party’s primary or convention.
“We received two petitions with signatures, neither of which had enough signatures to gain ballot access,” said Sam Taylor, communications director for the Secretary of State’s office.
The America’s Party of Texas “submitted 25 pages with roughly 10 signatures on each page, although a few pages had fewer than 10 signatures, so fewer than 250 signatures overall,” Taylor said. “The Green Party submitted one page with five signatures.”
The Christian Party of Texas, Independent Party of Texas and None of the Above did not submit petitions.
In December, 24 candidates filed to run as representatives of the America’s Party of Texas (2), Green Party (4) and None of the Above (18). Our Crib Sheets listed those candidates, but their parties’ inability to obtain ballot access means they are not eligible to run, unless they attempt their own individual petition drives to become a certified write-in candidate.
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