More parties, more choices

Rhode Island bill aims to ease ballot access for third parties, candidates

Rhode Island voters could see more political parties and a wider range of candidates if the General Assembly passes the bipartisan House Bill 7978 that would make it less onerous for third parties and their candidates to get onto the ballot.

Currently, political parties can get ballot access – be on the ballot without petitioning – if candidates for president or governor get 5 percent of the vote. A party can also gather valid voter signatures that reach 5 percent of the vote for the most recent governor or presidential race. This threshold makes it needlessly difficult for emerging parties and grassroots candidates to get onto the ballot. HB 7978 – introduced by Reps. David J. Place (Republican) and Jennifer A. Stewart (Democrat) – would lower that threshold to 2 percent to become a major party. It would expand the qualifying offices to include candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, or state treasurer; have at least one member of the general assembly; or enroll at least 5,000 voters in the party by June 1.Minor parties would be those that fell short of 5,000 registered voters or whose candidates received less than 2 percent in the previous general election.This bill shows trust that voters will be serious with their votes, while it recognizes that more than half of Rhode Island voters don’t call themselves Democrats or Republicans.

Concerns that this new standard would lead to a crowded ballot are not what has happened in other states with a 2 percent qualifying percentage. That percentage is still an uphill fight, based upon election results in Rhode Island. The 2016 presidential race is the last time an outsider presidential candidate exceeded the 2 percent qualifying threshold; in the past two presidential elections, the vote totals for the top three outsider candidates combined fell short of 2 percent.

Voters get more choices of soft drinks at the gas station than they’ll see on their ballots. When voters get more choices that come closer to their views, they will be more comfortable with the government they get after the election. Grassroots candidates will bring increasingly local voices that currently get drowned out by the biggest national voices.”