Minor political party
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A minor political party, or third party, in the United States is any political party other than the two major political parties. At the national level, the two major political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
As of November 2022, there were at least 53 distinct ballot-qualified political parties in the United States. There were 209 state-level parties.[1] Some parties are recognized in multiple states. For example, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are recognized in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. These two parties account for more than half of the 209 total state-level parties.[2][3][4] Three minor parties were recognized in more than 10 states as of November 2022:
- Libertarian Party: 39 states
- Green Party: 27 states[5]
- Constitution Party: 15 states[6]
Qualifications for recognition as a minor political party and requirements for ballot access vary by state.
In some states, minor political parties are able to achieve major party status within the state. Differences between major and minor parties vary at the state level. For example, in all states, major parties are granted access to primary elections. Some states, however, do not permit minor parties to participate in primary elections. Consequently, minor party candidates in these states can run only in general elections.[2]
Role of minor political parties
Issue awareness
Though minor political party candidates have earned election to local public offices across the country, electoral success at the state and federal level is less common. However, minor political parties often influence elections by raising issue awareness. According to PBS, 1992 Reform Party candidate Ross Perot drew national attention to the federal deficit, which has remained a prominent campaign issue in subsequent elections. In addition, minor parties such as the Socialist Party and the Populist Party advocated for child labor laws and worker's rights during the early 20th century.[7][8]
Fusion voting
Certain states permit fusion voting, which allows multiple political parties to nominate the same candidate. Fusion voting may require major party candidates to focus on the platforms of minor political parties in order to gain additional voter support. For example, the Working Families Party of Connecticut cross-endorsed the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dannel Malloy. The additional 27,000 Working Families Party votes helped Malloy win the election by roughly 5,000 votes.[9][10]
Examples
November 20, 2017: Gary Johnson, a former Libertarian Party candidate for president, claimed that "the largest group of American voters are actually neither Democrats or Republicans" and "the overwhelming majority would like to have more choices than just the two 'major' parties."
Is Johnson correct about party affiliation and public opinion on the two-party system?
Read Ballotpedia's fact check »
According to research performed by Ballotpedia in November 2022, the following minor political parties are recognized in more than ten states:[11]
- Libertarian Party: 39 states
- Green Party: 27 states[12]
- Constitution Party: 15 states[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Minor political party'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ This total does not include parties that have attained ballot status at the municipal level. Only those parties with state-level ballot status are included here.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Roneka Matheny, "Research of state election agency websites and email correspondence with state election agencies," November 2022
- ↑ As of November 2022, there were six state-level parties that called themselves Independent or Independence parties. For the purposes of this article, these were not tallied when counting the number of distinct ballot-qualified parties in the United States because it is difficult to determine to what extent these various parties are affiliated with one another.
- ↑ Because Washington utilizes a top-two, nonpartisan primary system, the state does not officially recognize parties. Consequently, only the state's two largest parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, were included in this tally.
- ↑ This figure includes the D.C. Statehood Green Party, Maine's Green Independent Party, Oregon's Pacific Green Party, and West Virginia's Mountain Party.
- ↑ This figure includes Nevada's Independent American Party and Michigan's U.S. Taxpayers Party.
- ↑ PBS, "Third parties in the U.S. political process," July 26, 2004
- ↑ Washington Times, "Third-party candidacies: Rarely successful, often influential," November 6, 2012
- ↑ MSNBC, "How fusion voting played a role in American politics," April 14, 2014
- ↑ National Review, "Bill de Blasio’s other party," January 15, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ This figure includes the D.C. Statehood Green Party, Maine's Green Independent Party, Oregon's Pacific Green Party, and West Virginia's Mountain Party.
- ↑ This figure includes Nevada's Independent American Party and Michigan's U.S. Taxpayers Party.
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