Third-party presidential candidates aim for New York vote

With less than six months until Election Day, third-party presidential campaigns have come to New York to submit petitions to appear on the Empire State ballot. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver were at least three of the candidates to submit petitions.

Presidential candidates must obtain 270 electoral votes to be elected president of the United States, meaning New York’s 28 electoral votes can play a major role in electing the president. New York’s electoral votes have not gone to a non-Democrat since 1984.

In 2020, the Green Party slate, led by perennial New York gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins, received less than 0.4% of the total vote. The Libertarians fared slightly better with their candidate, Jo Jorgensen, who received 0.7% of the total vote. There were no independents in New York’s 2020 presidential election.

Stein, a former board member from Lexington, Mass., is making her third campaign for president after running in 2012 and 2016. Oliver, the libertarian, is making his first campaign for president after polling 2 percent. votes in the first round of Georgia’s 2022 U.S. Senate race. Kennedy, the son of former New York U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is running as an independent after dropping his primary challenge to President Biden end of 2023.

For a candidate to appear on the ballot who does not have the support of one of the parties with automatic access to the ballot, a candidate must submit 45,000 signatures or 1% of the total number of votes in the election previous governorship, whichever is less. At least 500 signatures each must come from half of the state’s congressional districts.

Candidates may qualify as a write-in candidate if they declare their intention to the Board of Elections no later than the third Tuesday before the general election.