Thursday in Rhode Island, the last state where Libertarians needed to petition, the Secretary of State website confirms that Libertarians Gov. Gary Johnson and Gov. William Weld will be on the ballot this November, making it official that the ticket will be on all fifty state ballots, plus the District of Columbia.
While verbal reports from Rhode Island SOS representatives confirmed the party’s ballot access on September 12, they did not update their website until today, showing that Libertarians had turned in more than the 1,000 valid signatures needed to qualify.
The Libertarians, along with Donald Trump and Mike Pence for the Republicans, and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine for the Democrats, are the only candidates for president and vice president who will appear on November 8 ballots in all fify states, plus D.C.
It’s been twenty years since the Libertarian Party presidential and vice presidential nominees made the ballot in all fifty states, last achieved in 1996 by Harry Browne and his running mate, Jo Jorgensen.
“Thanks to the commitment of Libertarian Party members, donors, and volunteers, we’ve overcome the ballot access hurdles put in place by the two old parties,” said Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. It took thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we did it to give every American a Libertarian on their ballot so they don’t have to waste their vote on either of the two bullies the old parties nominated for President.”
“Voters were more eager to sign our petitions than ever before,” he continued. “We were helped, not only by their low opinion of the Republican and Democratic nominees, but also because so many have a positive view of the Libertarian Party.”
With every American voter able to vote for Gary Johnson, his poll numbers are more likely to hold up through Election Day. Typically, poll numbers for alternative party candidates start to drop in September. But Johnson’s have risen, signaling that 2016 will be an extraordinary year for the Libertarian Party.
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