Ballot access requirements for political parties in Maine
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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 Maine, click here.
Process for a political party to obtain ballot status
See statutes: Title 21-A, Article 1 of the Maine Revised Statutes
Party formation
Political parties in Maine can obtain official recognition in one of two ways: organization around a candidate or organization by party enrollment. These two methods are detailed below.
Organization around a candidate
A voter or group of voters not enrolled in a qualified political party may file a declaration of intent to form a new political party. The form of the declaration is prescribed by the secretary of state and must include the following information:[1]
- the designation of the proposed party
- the name of a candidate for governor or president in the most recent general election who was nominated by petition and who received at least 5% of the total number of votes cast for the office
- the candidate's signed consent
- the contact information and signature of the voter or one of the group of voters who files the declaration.
- The declaration of intent must be filed with the secretary of state before 5:00 p.m. on the 180th day preceding the next primary election. After filing the declaration, the voter or group of voters may enroll voters in the proposed party.[1]
Organization by party enrollment
A group of 10 or more voters who are not enrolled in a qualified political party may file a declaration of intent to form a party with the secretary of state between December 1 and December 30 of an even-numbered year. The form of the declaration is prescribed by the secretary of state and must include the following information:[2]
- the designation of the proposed party
- the contact information and signatures of the voters filing the declaration
Within five business days of receipt, the secretary of state will certify whether the declaration is sufficient and notify the applicants that they may begin enrolling voters in the proposed party. By January 2 of the even-numbered year following the filing of the declaration of intent, the applicants must file a certification with the secretary of state indicating that at least 5,000 voters have enrolled in the proposed party. The secretary of state must verify these enrollment figures within 15 business days of receipt and notify the applicants whether the proposed party may participate in the next primary election.[2]
Procedural requirements
A newly qualified political party must conduct municipal caucuses in at least one municipality in each of the state's 16 counties during the election year. Municipal caucuses are held every two years to elect delegates to the state convention and to tend to any other party business. A caucus notice must be published in a newspaper "having general circulation in the municipality" at least three and no more than seven days before the caucus. The caucus notice may also be posted in a "conspicuous, public place in each voting district in the municipality" at least seven days prior to the caucus. The notice must contain the party name, the time and place of the caucus, and the name of the person calling it.[1][2][3]
A newly qualified party must also hold a state convention. The voter or group of voters who filed the declaration of intent may perform the convention duties normally performed by a party's state committee during the new party's first state convention.[4]
Maintaining party status
To maintain qualified status, a political party's designation must have been listed on the ballot in either of the two preceding general elections. Further, the party must also meet all of the following requirements:[5]
- "The party held municipal caucuses as prescribed by Article 2 in at least one municipality in a minimum of 14 counties in the State during the election year in which the designation was listed on the ballot and any interim election year and fulfills this same requirement during the year of the primary election;
- "The party held a state convention as prescribed by Article III during the election year in which the designation was listed on the ballot and any interim election year; and ...
- "The party's candidate for Governor or for President received at least 5% of the total votes cast in the State for Governor or for President in the last preceding gubernatorial or presidential election or at least 5,000 voters were enrolled in the party as of the last general election, except that a qualified party does not have to meet the requirements of this paragraph until the 2nd general election after it has qualified and thereafter. "
Political parties
As of May 2024, there were five recognized political parties in Maine. These are listed in the table below.[6]
| Party | Website link | By-laws/platform link |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party of Maine | Link | Party by-laws |
| Green Independent Party of Maine | Link | Party by-laws |
| Libertarian Party of Maine[7] | Link | Party by-laws |
| No Labels Party | Link | Party platform |
| Republican Party of Maine | Link | Party by-laws |
Noteworthy events
Libertarian Party of Maine sued the state over ballot access requirements (2019-2022)
On November 7, 2019, the Libertarian Party of Maine sued the Maine Secretary of State over the party's decertification. The lawsuit called the state's ballot access requirements overly burdensome. The Libertarian Party was ballot-qualified in Maine in 2016 after meeting the registration threshold of more than 5,000 members. However, state law also required a minimum of 10,000 party members to cast votes in the following election in 2018. When that did not happen, the Libertarian Party was decertified and the voter registrations of its party members were changed to unaffiliated.[8]
On December 29, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker ordered Maine election officials to allow Libertarian Party members to re-enroll and nominate candidates for the 2022 elections. The order required Maine's secretary of state to send letters to Libertarian party members informing them that the changes made to their voter registrations was unlawful and that they may rejoin the party. The judge ruled that Libertarians could nominate candidates for the 2022 election, regardless of whether they met the membership threshold because of tight timetables.[9]
On October 26, 2022, Judge Walker issued a final order in this case reiterating that it was unconstitutional for the state to unenroll a party’s registered members. The order required Maine's secretary of state to keep the Libertarian Party as an option on voter registration forms. However, it did not ensure ballot access for the Libertarian Party in 2024. The party would need to meet the same requirements that were in force in 2016 in order to appear on the ballot. [10]
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See also
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Maine
- Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Maine
- List of political parties in the United States
- Democratic Party of Maine
- Republican Party of Maine
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Maine Revised Statutes, "§302. Formation of new party; organization about a candidate," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Maine Revised Statutes, "§303. Formation of new party; organization by party enrollment," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "§311. Rules governing," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "§321. Time and place; procedure," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "§301. Qualified parties," accessed July 7, 2025
- ↑ Department of the Secretary of State of Maine, "Maine Voter Registration Application," accessed May 23, 2024
- ↑ On December 31, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Lance E. Walker ordered that the Libertarian Party be granted ballot status for the 2022 election cycle. See Walker's order for more information.
- ↑ The Center Square Maine, “Maine Libertarians suing over state's moves to unenroll voters from party,” November 14, 2019
- ↑ NBC News Maine, “Libertarians to be reenrolled, nominate candidates in Maine,” January 3, 2022
- ↑ Ballot Access News, “U.S. District Court Issues Final Order in Maine Libertarian Ballot Access Lawsuit,” October 28, 2022
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