Libertarian Party candidates won’t have to collect signatures to have their names added to West Virginia ballots, after party candidate David Moran got 1 percent of the vote in the governor’s race.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s office said in order for a party to be considered official, its candidate must hit the one percent mark, the
Charleston Gazette reported Friday.
Only about 1,448 West Virginians are registered with the Libertarian Party, but Moran received more than 8,000 votes.
Breaking the one percent threshold means Libertarians can now choose their candidate during a primary election or through a party convention.
"Becoming an official political party also means a person cannot run as a primary candidate if they were registered as a member of one of the other official political parties within 60 days of filing to run,” said a release from Tennant's office. “People registered with no party affiliation, independent, or any other registration other than the official four parties are not subject to that law.”
There is one catch, though, to keeping the designation as an official party. To maintain ballot access after the 2016 governor's race, the Libertarian Party will have to break at least one of percent of the votes cast in that election.
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