Tennessee
ELECTION INFO: SECRETARY OF STATE
STATE-ISTICS: STATE INFORMATION
Recognized party qualifications:
Only 2 statewide recognized parties: Democrats & Republicans
New party qualifications:
Petition: 2.5% of all votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election [2-1-104 (29)]
Or received 5% of the votes cast in the last
gubernatorial of Presidential election, whichever is
most recent
Primary ballot access:
1. Secretary of State:
Selects candidates who are recognized in national news media [2-13-304 (a)]
2. Petition (for those not selected):2,500 signatures
Deadline: noon the first Tuesday in January
No filing fees [2-5-205 (a)(2)]
General ballot access for independent candidates:
Secure 1 to 11 candidates to run as electors [2-15-101 and 102]
Petition: each elector circulates own petition for 25 signatures [2-5-101(b)(1)]
Or a master petition is circulated for all electors: 275 signatures [2-5-101(b)(1)]
Deadline: 3rd Thursday in August [2-5-101(a)]
Last day to withdraw from the ballot: second
Tuesday in January for nationally recognized candidate
[2-5-205], independent candidates can withdraw 7 days
after the qualifying deadline [2-5-204]
Primary date: February 10, 2004 [2-13-205]
Source:
The Reform Institute (December 2003). Presidential Ballot Access: State by State Scorecard. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/5646/2003scorecard.....
Write-In Information
The candidate needs to:
1) Fill out the “Certificate of Write-In Candidacy”
2) Submit along with the Certificate a list of 11 electors pledged to the candidate. The list has to include electors' names and addresses. 9 of the electors have to be one from each of Tennessee's 9 congressional districts, and 2 can be "at large". The filing window for this information is between August 22 - September 15.
Source:
Frank Moore (May 8, 2008). US Presidential Write-In Candidate Requirements For Each State. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from http://www.writein2008.blogspot.com/
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