Ballot access laws are the main barrier to many potential candidates outside the two-party system. There was an interesting new post at the local Santa Fe New Mexican by Phaedra Haywood. Take a look:

J. Edward Hollington’s complaint, filed Wednesday in state District Court, references a special election that will be needed to fill Congresswoman Deb Haaland’s seat if she is confirmed as secretary of the interior.

The complaint says candidates who aren’t Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians face a much tougher time getting their names on the ballot than affiliated candidates because of the way the state’s elections are run.

While major party candidates must seek the support of usually 200 or fewer State Central Committee members to be named their party’s candidate, independent candidates “face a significantly more daunting path” as they must collect signatures equal to 2 percent of the total number of votes cast in the district, the complaint says.

Democracy Chronicles has put together an in-depth review of the majority of America’s third parties in a handy overview where all the country’s political parties, other than the two big parties, are separated into categories and contextualized. Links to their websites and party platforms are included too. See the overview of all American political parties at Democracy Chronicles Third Party Central.