Open Ballot Access

There are over 200 organized, active national political parties in the United States.

Most people only know of the Democrats and the Republicans.

A few people are beginning to hear of some other parties, such as the Libertarians, the Green Party, and other so-called third parties. And they are so-called because the Democrats and Republicans have no right call this a two-party system.

If there is so much choice out there, why do we generally see only the Democracts and the Republicans on our ballots at election time? The answer, of course, is that the Democrats and Republicans don't want you to see the other parties.

The state legislatures, full of elephants and asses (hereafter referred to as Republicrats), did their best to make it near-impossible for any other party to get put on the ballot.

Ballot access laws have been around since the birth of our representative republic (America is NOT a democracy!), and for good reason. Getting put on the ballot should not be so easy that every Tom, Dick, and Harry can be named as a candidate. The first access laws simply required that a candidate have a handful of signatures, say 15-25.

The new ballot access laws that have been enacted by our wonderful Republicrats require that candidates be able to present anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 signatures, and some states require that those signatures can only be collected in a 4-month window before the election.

Unless, of course, your party received a certain number of votes in the previous election, in which case you are granted automatic ballot access. Ever wonder why Republicrats aren't knocking on your door, asking you to sign an access petition?

If you want to make a big difference, write a letter to your state representives, including your governor, and ask them to reform ballot access to allow all parties an equal chance. Write a letter to the editor. Start your own political blog. After all, isn't America supposed to be the land of opportunity? Unless, of course, you happen to come from Mexico.