Washington court: Crossover signatures mean 3 minor parties don’t qualify for ballot
The presidential candidates of several minor parties have not qualified for the ballot in November after the Washington Secretary of State’s Office found some voters signed multiple nominating petitions.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Erik Price signed an order Thursday that said the state law against voters signing petitions of multiple parties “is to be strictly enforced, and the signatures by voters that signed the nominating petitions of more than one minor party (“cross-over signatures”) shall be rejected.”
That means the Alliance Party, American Solidarity Party, and Constitution Party have not reached the 1,000 signatures of registered voters as required, the order said.
Of the seven minor parties who submitted nominating petitions, the Washington Secretary of State’s Office found four had enough signatures to make the general election: the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Socialism and Liberation Party, and Socialist Workers Party.
But the Secretary of State’s Office filed a petition in Thurston County Superior Court last week asking for clarification about how to handle the signatures on the other three minor parties’ petitions.
“During the signature-verification process for nominating petitions submitted by the Alliance Party, the American Solidarity Party, and the Constitution Party, the Secretary of State’s Office found that numerous voters signed nominating petitions for more than one minor party, meaning they signed one petition and then ‘crossed over’ to sign at least one other party’s petition,” the Secretary of State’s Office said in a news release about the petition Aug. 25.
It wasn’t clear, the office said, how the Secretary of State is supposed to handle those signatures.
“In order to qualify for the 2020 General Election ballot, a minor party must obtain 1,000 signatures from eligible Washington voters who have not signed another party’s nominating petition,” the release said. “If ‘crossover signatures’ are not counted by the Secretary of State’s Office, the three minor parties in question will not have enough signatures to advance to the General Election.”
In a response to the petition filed with the court, Alliance called the language of the state law “vague” and said applying it against the party “would have the effect of stifling political speech.”
The party argued that through its 872 verified non-crossover signatures it demonstrated a significant modicum of support that made it worthy of the ballot.
A response filed by the American Solidarity Party said in part, “Due to the extraordinary conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, other rules related to ballot access have been necessarily relaxed.”
They had 322 signatures with no crossover, and the Constitution Party had 556, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
