Ballot access requirements for political parties in Utah

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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.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • As of May 2024, Utah officially recognized nine political parties. See the table below for further details.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Utah allows candidates to use political party designations.

    • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Utah, see this article.

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

    Seal of Utah

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Title 20A-8 of the Utah Election Code

    In Utah, there are two types of political parties: registered parties and qualified parties. These types of parties differ in how they nominate candidates for placement on the primary ballot. The candidate of a registered party must petition for placement on the primary ballot. The candidate of a qualified party can either petition for placement on the primary ballot or be nominated for placement at a party convention.

    An organization of voters can seek to become a registered political party by submitting a petition to the lieutenant governor's office. The petition must be signed by at least 2,000 registered voters. The petition must also contain a statement declaring the name of the political party. The petition, in addition to the required signatures, must also contain the proposed party's name, which must not exceed four words, and party emblem. The party name and emblem must also be distinguishable from the names and emblems of other political parties.[1][2][3][4][5]

    A qualified political party must complete the same requirements as a registered party. In addition, a qualified political party must do the following:[5][6][7]

    1. A qualified party must "allow unaffiliated voters to vote in the political party's primary election."
    2. A qualified party must "permit delegates to vote remotely at the political party's convention or provide a procedure for designating an alternate for a delegate who is not present at the convention."
    3. A qualified party must "hold its convention on or after the fourth Saturday in March."
    4. A qualified party must "allow candidates to get on the primary election ballot by gathering petition signatures, going through the political party's convention, or both."

    Maintaining party status

    In order to retain registered and qualified political party status, one or more of the party's candidates for any office must win at least 2 percent or more of the total votes cast for all candidates for the United States House of Representatives in the same regular general election.[5][8]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of May 2024, there were nine recongized political parties in Utah. These are listed in the table below.[9]

    Political parties in Utah
    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Constitution Party of Utah Link Party platform
    Democratic Party of Utah Link Party by-laws
    Green Party of Utah Link Party platform
    Independent American Party of Utah Link Party by-laws
    Libertarian Party of Utah Link Party by-laws
    No Labels Party Link Party platform
    Republican Party of Utah Link Governing Documents
    United Utah Party Link Party platform
    Utah Forward Party Link

    Noteworthy events

    2017

    On May 26, 2017, the filing deadline for political party candidates participating in Utah's 3rd Congressional District special election, election officials rejected prospective candidate Jim Bennett's paperwork, citing the fact that his party (the United Utah Party) was not recognized by the state as a ballot-qualified party at the time of the filing deadline. United Utah Party officials filed party formation paperwork with the state on May 25, 2017. According to Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox , election officials have 30 days from the date of submission to process new party formation paperwork.[10]

    On June 22, 2017, Bennett and the United Utah Party filed suit, alleging that election officials, in claiming that they did not have sufficient time in advance of the candidate filing deadline to verify the party formation paperwork submitted by the United Utah Party, violated their constitutional rights. A hearing was scheduled before United States District Court Judge David Nuffer on June 26, 2017. That same day, state election officials indicated that they had verified the party formation paperwork for the United Utah Party.[11][12]

    On August 2, 2017, Nuffer ruled in favor of the United Utah Party (UUP), ordering state election officials to include Bennett's name on the ballot as a candidate of UUP. In his ruling, Nuffer wrote, "Under the standard for constitutional challenges to state election laws articulated by the United States Supreme Court, [the state's special election deadlines and procedures] violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Constitution guarantees the freedom to associate in political parties for the advancement of beliefs and ideas. The state's interests do not require or justify effectively barring UUP and its candidate, Mr. Bennett, from participating in the special election as a new political party." Cox announced that his office would not appeal the decision.[13][14][15]

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    See also

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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Utah Election Code, "Title 20A-8-101," accessed March 3, 2014
    2. ↑ Utah Election Code, "Title 20A-8-103," accessed March 4, 2014
    3. ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office, "Becoming a Political Party," accessed March 4, 2014
    4. ↑ Utah Election Code, "Title 20A-8-103," accessed March 7, 2014
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Utah Office of the Lieutenant Governor, "Senate Bill 54," accessed June 17, 2015
    6. ↑ Utah Election Code, "Title 20A-8-103(2)(a)," accessed March 3, 2014
    7. ↑ Utah Office of the Lieutenant Governor, "Senate Bill 54," accessed June 17, 2015
    8. ↑ Utah Election Code, "Title 20A-8-102," accessed March 3, 2014
    9. ↑ SevierUtah.net, "2024 Recognized Political Parties in Utah," accessed May 16, 2024
    10. ↑ Deseret News, "Backers of new Utah political party say they'll sue to get candidate in congressional race," June 16, 2017
    11. ↑ KUTV.com, "Jim Bennett sues to get in Utah race to replace Chaffetz," June 22, 2017
    12. ↑ Ballot Access News, "United Utah Party has Court Hearing in Ballot Access Case on Monday, June 26," June 22, 2013
    13. ↑ Ballot Access News, "Utah Elections Office Says United Utah Party Has Enough Valid Signatures," June 26, 2017
    14. ↑ United States District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, "United Utah Party v. Cox: Memorandum and Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction," August 2, 2017
    15. ↑ Fox 13: Salt Lake City, "Judge orders United Utah Party candidate on the ballot," August 2, 2017
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