Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Policy Research Shop
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 What is the best way to set ballot access
requirements?
 Considerations:
• Maximizing voter choice, democratic
participation, and civic engagement
• Keeping the ballot in a simple-to-understood
format for voters
• Minimizing or eliminating costs for new ballot
creation. Must work with pre-existing votecounting software (AccuVote)
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 1) Review the current NH Laws in place
 2) Examine the constitutional dimensions of
ballot access
 3) Compare NH Laws to those of other states
 4) Consider proposed changes in HB 48 (Rep.
Pierce)
 5) Propose possible changes to NH ballot design
 6) Analyze other states who have modified
standards
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Party Access vs. Candidate Access
 Early Ballots -The Australian Ballot- Present
Day
 Supporters of Harsh Laws: Split the Vote
 Supporters of Easy Laws: Maximize democratic
choice especially when 44% of NH is
independent. stop the polarization of politics.
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Two official parties in NH
 Definition of a Political Party
 Signature Requirments
 Rules for Signatories: registered voters, only
one petition for each office to be voted for
 Rules for Petitions: one page per signatory
 Timeline: Must be dated in year of election and
due in September of election year
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Only New England State with two parties
 Only U.S. state requiring candidates to submit
a declaration of candidacy before the petition
 Only state with one signature per page
 U.S. median vote test is 2%; NH is 4%
 Since its creation in 1996, NH petition has only
been used once, by Libertarians in 2000
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Do ballot access rules affect the ability of third
parties to qualify on the ballot?
 Maybe No: In years with toughest requirements
their were more parties than in years with fewer
restrictions.
 Maybe Yes: Many statistical models illustrate that
with more restrictions, the number of official
third parties declines.
 Our own regression agrees with the Yes
hypothesis
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 First Amendment right to political association
 Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause
 A) Signature Requirements:
 Williams v. Rhodes (Ohio 15% standard)
 Jenness v. Fortson (Georgia 5% standard)
B) Filing Fees
 Lubin v. Panish
 Bullock v. Carter (Texas)
C) Timeframe for Signatures
Anderson v. Celebrezze (Ohio)
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said in
2005 that “he had never seen any evidence
that any voter in New Hampshire has been
confused by the large number of names on
the state’s presidential primary ballots”
 NH has the most candidates on the primary ballot
than any other state in the country (upwards of 30)
 California voters encountered no trouble when faced
with 135 candidates on a gubernatorial recall ballot.
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Petition Signatures Required
25,000
20,000
15,000
Petition Signatures Required
10,000
5,000
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Policy Research Shop
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 The New Definition of a Political Party:
 A) At the preceding state general election
received at least 2 percent of the total number of
votes cast
 B) Has its name placed on the state general
election ballot by submitting nomination papers
in accordance with RSA 655:40-a
 C) Has at least 3,000 voters registered as
affiliates according to the statewide centralized
voter registration database.
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Result: Libertarian party qualifies in 2003-2004 and in
2009-2010
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Policy Research Shop
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
State
LA
MA
MD
ME
MI
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
ND
NE
NH
NJ
NM
NV
NY
% previous
3%
1%
5%
2%
Irrelevant
5%
5%
4%
10%
5%
% petition
1,000
1% reg voters
10,000
2%
1%
Be organized
5%
7,000
3%
1%
5%
reg parties
5
3
6
3
3
4
8
4
2%
2
2
2
2
6
5
% 3rd party
1.50%
1.74%
1.26%
1.85%
1.61%
1.79%
1.28%
0.82%
3.20%
1.03%
0.60%
1.52%
0.88%
0.88%
1.02%
2.20%
1.31%
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
Policy Research Shop
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Will allow us to estimate how many registered
parties would exist in NH given specific ballot
access percentages.
 Regression 1: # of parties given % standard of
qualification and % of third party voters
 Regression 2: # of parties given % of petition
signatures required and % of third party voters
 Many assumptions made in the calculation
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Currently NH has a column style ballot with four
mandatory vertical columns. It is longer than it is
wide.
 Lowering the ballot access requirements would likely
give the libertarian party a column on the ballot.
 Likely to require a fifth column on the ballot
 Goal of Secretary of State: Continue to use the optical
scan ballot and current AccuVote-OS technology
 May be necessary to redesign the ballot
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Office Block vs. Column Style
 Column Style Current N.H. Statute
 Essential Question: How create more space for a
new Column(s)?
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 A) Shrinking the Font Size
 B) Using a Double Page Ballot With Both Pages Wider
Than They Are Long
 C) Using Both the Front and Back of a One Sided
Ballot that is Wider than It is Long
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Smaller Font Size
 NH very helpful with visual assistance tools
 Landscape vs. Portrait
 Elongating Landscape Ballot to Max of 17”
 2 page ballot
 Double Sided (Not preferable due to confusion.)
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 In 1999, the Florida state legislature changed its ballot
access procedure. Instead of requiring three percent of
registered voters to sign a petition, parties need now only
pay a filing fee and submit a list of candidates.
 In 1998, the Maryland state legislature reduced the number
of signatures needed for ballot access from 3% of registered
voters to 1%. Later in 2003, the Maryland State Court of
Appeals ruled in Maryland Green Party v Board of Elections
that any party may gain ballot access by submitting a
petition with 10,000 signatures.
Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College
Policy Research Shop
A Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences
 Continue to study the ballot design literature and use the
case studies to make more detailed recommendations.
 Complete our regression analysis to model how the
number of political parties will change as standards
change.