Signatures to Run
Republican
Democrat
Independent
3rd party
“The law put me in a place where I felt I would have to lie to my voters.”
After almost ten years on the Wilson County Commission, I decided to run for State Representative.
All of my constituents and even the local media knew me as a member of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee, but running as an alternative party candidate came with a huge cost.
Moving from a nonpartisan office to a partisan race proved to be a complicated decision. In order to run as an alternative party candidate, the party would have to collect signatures from registered voters equivalent to at least 2.5% of the total number of votes cast for all gubernatorial candidates in the most recent election. As this requirement has proven to be unattainable and extremely burdensome, I was faced with a choice: accept the endorsement of the Republican Party which would give me a real chance to win or stick with my principles, be true to my values, and be forced to run as an Independent.
I didn’t want to call myself an Independent as I was a member of a national political party and voters deserve reliable and accurate information on the ballot. I didn’t want to call myself a Republican knowing my ideology didn’t align; I also simply wasn’t going to be silenced or controlled by the party.
In the end, the law put me in a place where I felt I would have to lie to my voters or lose the value of being called by a party name, something other than “Independent.”
Wilson County Commissioner 2002-2010
State Representative Candidate 2010
Gubernatorial Candidate 2018
What’s Broken
Tennessee’s State Constitution calls for “Free & Equal” elections. The current state of the law is neither free, nor equal.
Today, to run as an alternative party in Tennessee you have to collect 2.5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. As of 2021, that requires a candidate to receive over 56,082 signatures. However, considering that the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office discards approximately 35% of signatures, the candidate should strive to gather over 75,000 signatures. To run as a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, you only have to collect 25 signatures. This clearly stands in opposition to Tennessee’s Constitutional mandate of “Free & Equal” elections.
In 2020, there were nine candidates on the ballot for president: one Democrat, one Republican, and seven listed as Independents. Of those seven Independents, six were representatives of some alternative party, leaving one who was truly independent.
Tennessee state law does not permit other parties to be labeled on the ballot without an excessive signature burden, causing confusion as to who those candidates represent. This essentially hides the truth about the voter’s options and limits choice.
The consequence of this system is structural protection of the two party system that has disappointed Tennesseans over and over again, regardless of the party in power.
Excessive Signatures
Tennessee requires more signatures for alternative party ballot access than nearly every other state, except the two most populous states: California and Texas. This requirement is 20,000% greater than Democrats or Republicans.
TAXPAYER COST
Under current law, when a party achieves “statewide” ballot access in Tennessee, it must participate in taxpayer funded primaries. These primaries shift the cost of party operations to the taxpayer, a burden we should not bear.
Hard to Keep Access
If alternative parties achieve ballot access, they must immediately turn around and run a candidate in the next statewide race and get over 5%. If they do not, they’re back to square one and have to collect 56,082 signatures all over again.
Ballot Confusion
In 2018, there were over 20 Independent candidates for Governor, most of these associated with minor parties. Forcing alternative party candidates to call themselves Independent hurts Tennesseans and leads to ballot confusion.
Ballot Access in the us
22 States are Less than 5,000
Almost half the country require less than 5000 signatures, a handful of states require zero signatures to get on the ballot.
35 Are Less than 15,000
All but 14 states require less than 15,000 signatures for access, the majority of these states have even lower retention requirements than Tennessee.
3 States Require More than 55,000
According to 2018 numbers, only 3 states require more than 55,000 signatures. Two of these states, California and Texas, have a population 5X greater than Tennessee.
Ballot Access in the us
Fix Retention
Reduce the retention requirement to keep ballot access from 5% of votes in a statewide race to a more attainable 1%.
LESS taxpayer cost
TN law states that any party who achieves over 5% must participate in a taxpayer-funded primary. This bill increases the threshold to 25%, reducing potential cost.
less signatures
Reduce the signature total to be properly recognized to 0.5% of the votes in the last governor’s race (approx.11,000) rather than 2.5% (approx. 56,000).
MAKE IT SIMPLE
The bill does not change the existing formula for ballot access, it only reduces the percentages that exist within the code currently.
HOW WE FIX IT
Our bill is simple: bring Tennessee closer to “Free & Equal” elections
Our bill seeks to restore reason to Tennessee’s ballot access laws.
Currently, Tennessee has one of the highest thresholds in the country for alternative party ballot access. Our solution would bring us in line with the majority of the United States. Our proposal addresses the issues with our taxpayer-funded primary process, eliminates ballot confusion, and fixes long-term retention.
This bill lowers the percentage of signatures from the last Governor’s race that alternative parties have to collect, lowers the statewide vote total for ballot retention, reduces potential taxpayer burden by increasing the vote percentage threshold that parties have to reach to receive taxpayer funds, and creates a state that’s a little more “free & equal.”
HOW WE FIX IT
Our bill is simple: Bring Tennessee Closer to “Free & Equal” Elections
Our bill seeks to restore reason to Tennessee’s ballot access laws.
Currently, Tennessee is one of the highest thresholds in the country for alternative party ballot access. Our solution would bring us in line with the majority of the United States. Our proposal addresses the issues with our taxpayer-funded primary process, eliminates ballot confusion, and fixes long-term retention.
This bill lowers the percentage of signatures from the last Governor’s race that alternative parties have to collect, lowers the statewide vote total for ballot retention, reduces potential taxpayer burden by increasing the vote percentage threshold that parties have to reach to receive taxpayer funds, and creates a world that’s a little more “free & equal.”
Fix Retention
Reduce the retention requirement to keep ballot access from 5% of votes in a statewide race to a more attainable 1%.
LESS taxpayer cost
TN law states that any party who achieves over 5% must participate in a taxpayer-funded primary. This bill increases the threshold to 25%, reducing potential cost.
less signatures
Reduce the signature total to be properly recognized to 0.5% of the votes in the last governor’s race (approx.11,000) rather than 2.5% (approx. 56,000).
MAKE IT SIMPLE
The bill does not change the existing formula for ballot access, it only reduces the percentages that exist within the code currently.
Recent Updates
Discussing Tennessee’s Broken Ballot Access Laws
Joshua Eakle, Justin Cornett, and Heather Scott discuss the systematic barriers minor party candidates face when running for office in Tennessee.
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