Ballot access requirements for political parties in Washington

in Washington

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Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
Ballot access for presidential candidates
List of political parties in the United States
Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

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 Washington, see this article.

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

See statutes: Chapter 29A.80 of the Washington Election Code

In Washington, the top-two primary system allows candidates to list any party as the party that they prefer. Thus, major parties and minor party candidates are not required to conduct conventions or collect signatures to qualify for the ballot. Washington state law no longer dictates how political parties conduct their nominations, and the parties may decide themselves how to conduct their nominations. A "major political party" is defined as a political party whose nominees for president and vice president received at least 5 percent of the total number of votes cast at the last presidential election. A "minor political party" is a political organization other than a major political party.^[1][2][3]

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of December 2021, the two largest political parties in Washington were the Democratic and Republican parties. The top-two primary system, however, is a nonpartisan primary, which allows a candidate to select any party designation to appear next to his or her name on the ballot.

Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
Democratic Party of Washington	Link	Party by-laws
Republican Party of Washington	Link	Party by-laws

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Washington
• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Washington
• List of political parties in the United States
• Democratic Party of Washington
• Republican Party of Washington

External links

• Washington Democratic Party
• Washington Republican Party

Footnotes

	v • e State of Washington Olympia (capital)
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