Back in May, as Americans Elect’s national organization collapsed, ballot genius Richard Winger and I wondered whether the local organizations could give their ballot lines to other candidates. After all, “Americans Elect” was legally on the ballot in nearly 30 states, and it was illegal to take them off. Would they just field no candidates? Or would enterprising third partiers take their ballot lines?
The second one. From the inbox:
The nonpartisan organization Americans Elect has submitted the names of presidential electors to the Oklahoma State Board of Elections who have pledged to support former New Mexico Governor and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson for President and Judge Jim Gray for Vice President. The nomination by Americans Elect ensures that Gov. Johnson’s name will be on the November ballot in Oklahoma.
The Sooner State has strict ballot access laws, and no Libertarian nominee had fulfilled them since 2000, when Harry Browne got 0.5% of the vote. Johnson’s biggest obstacle now… well, it’s debatable, but it’s probably the Michigan GOP arguing that he can’t be a Libertarian candidate in that state because he switched parties and crossed the Sore Loser requirement.
