Ballot access requirements for political parties in Arizona
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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.
To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Arizona,click here.
Process for a political party to obtain ballot status
See statutes:Title 16, Chapter 5 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
Qualifying for ballot access
To establish a recognized political party inArizona, the group wishing to qualify as a party must file a petition with theArizona Secretary of State. This petition must contain signatures from registered voters equal to at least 1.33% of the total votes cast for governor at the last general election.[1]
In order to gain statewide recognition, signatures must come from at least five counties. In addition, at least 10% of the total number of signatures must come from registered voters in counties with populations of less than 500,000 people.[1] This petition must be filed at least 250 days before the primary election.[2]
Maintaining ballot access
Once recognized, a new political party will be qualified through the next two regularly scheduled general elections. After those two elections, the party will no longer be recognized unless it qualifies for continued recognition or files a new petition for recognition.[1] To qualify for continued recognition, the party's candidate forgovernor must receive at least 5% of the votes cast in the gubernatorial election. Alternatively, 0.67% of all registered voters in the state must have affiliated with the party by October 1 of the year before the general election.[3]
Convention requirements
The state committee of a political party must meet no later than the fourth Saturday in January following a general election. At this meeting, a chairman, secretary, and treasurer must be elected from the party's membership. The current chairman of the state committee must notify all state committee members of the time and place of the meeting at least 10 days before the meeting will be held.[4]
Political parties
As of May 2024,Arizona officially recognized five political parties. These are listed in the table below.[5]
Historical events
2023
On March 7, 2023, Arizona Secretary of StateAdrian Fontes (D) published a press release announcing that theNo Labels party had submitted the signatures required for ballot qualification.[6]
2014
On May 16, 2014, federal judgeNeil Wake upheld the state's petition deadline for newly-qualifying political parties. In hisopinion inArizonaGreen Party v. Bennett, Wake held that the deadline as established was necessary in order to allow the state sufficient time to prepare for the qualifying party's primary election.[7]
Some opponents pointed to theUnited States Supreme Court's ruling inAnderson v. Celebrezze, which held that Ohio's early filing deadline for independent presidential candidates violated the voting and associational rights of the candidates' supporters.[7]
2013
In June 2013,Arizona GovernorJan Brewer signedHB 2305 into law. The law, among other changes, increased petition signature requirements for minor party candidates. Opponents successfully referred the bill to voters in aveto referendum for the November 4, 2014, general election ballot. In January 2014, theArizona House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to repeal the law.[8] On February 10, 2014, this new bill passed theArizona House Rules Committee, and theArizona State Senate Judiciary Committee approved an identical bill.[9][10] TheArizona House of Representatives passed the bill on February 13, 2014, and theArizona State Senate passed it on February 20, 2014. It was signed into law byBrewer on February 27, 2014, officially repealingHB 2305.[11][12][13]
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See also
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Arizona
- Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Arizona
- List of political parties in the United States
- Democratic Party of Arizona
- Republican Party of Arizona
External links
Footnotes
- ↑1.01.11.2Arizona State Legislature, "16-801. Representation of new party on ballot at primary and general elections," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑Arizona State Legislature, "16-803. Filing petition for recognition; submission of petitions to county recorder for signature verification," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑Arizona State Legislature, "16-804. Continued representation on basis of votes cast at last preceding general election or registered electors," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑Arizona State Legislature, "16-826. Meeting, organization and officers of state committee," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑Arizona Secretary of State, "Information about Recognized Political Parties," accessed May 15, 2024
- ↑Twitter, "Arizona Secretary of State," accessed March 9, 2023
- ↑7.07.1Ballot Access News, "U.S. District Court Judge Upholds Arizona's February Petition Deadline for Newly-Qualifying Parties," May 16, 2014
- ↑AZCentral.com, "Arizona House Judiciary Committee votes to repeal controversial election bill," January 30, 2014
- ↑Ballot Access News, "Arizona Bill that Repeals Ballot Access Restriction Moves Ahead," February 11, 2014
- ↑Ballot Access News, "Repeal of Arizona 2013 Ballot Access Restriction Moves Closer," February 12, 2014
- ↑Ballot Access News, "Arizona House Repeals 2013 Ballot Access Restriction," February 14, 2014
- ↑Ballot Access News, "Arizona Legislature Repeals 2013 Ballot Access Restriction," February 21, 2014
- ↑Ballot Access News, "Arizona Governor Signs Bill that Repeals Ballot Access Restriction," February 27, 2014
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