Nader's campaign
reports that he will need 1.5 million signatures to get on the ballot in every state in 2004. The list below summaries the requirements by state.
State Signatures Deadline Notes
AL 5,000 Aug 31
AK 2,878 Aug 4
AR 1,000 Aug 2
CA 153,805 Aug 6
CO NA $500
CT 7,500 Aug 1
DE 5,205 July 15
DC 3,600 Aug 17
FL 94,000 July 15
GA 38,567 July 13
HI 3,677 Sept 3
ID 5,016 Aug 24
IL 25,000 June 14
IN 29,552 June 30
IA 1,500 Aug 13 10 counties reqd.
KS 5,000 Aug 2
KY 5,000 Sept 7
LA NA $500
ME 4,000 Aug 15
MD 10,000 Aug 2
MA 10,000 Aug 3
MI 30,000 July 15 100 ea in half of CDs
MN 1,710 Sept 14
MS 1,000 Sept 3
MO 10,000 July 15
MT 1,489 Aug 18
NE 2,500 Aug 24
NV 5,015 July 9
NH 3,000 June 2 1500 in ea CD
NJ 800 June 8
NM 17,958 Sept 7
NY 15,000 Aug 10 100 ea in 16 CDs
NC 80,000 May 17
ND 4,000 Oct 3
OH 5,000 Aug 19
OK 37,027 July 15
OR 15,306 Aug 24
PA 25,697 Aug 2
RI 1,000 Sept 3
SC 10,000 July 15
SD 3,346 Aug 3
TN 275 Aug 19
TX 65,000 May 16 Primary non-voters
UT 1,000 Sept 2
VT 1,000 Sept 2
VA 10,000 Aug 20 400 in ea CD
WA 200 July 5 Nominating convention
WV 12,962 Aug 1
WI 2,000 Sept 7 Start circul. Aug 1
WY 3,643 Aug 23
Naturally, the rules in some of these states won't matter. It doesn't really matter which third party candidates are on the ballot in Utah or the District of Columbia in our winner takes all electoral college system, since those are safe states for a particular candidate.
But, among the potential battleground states, the requirements matter a great deal. In Ohio, for example, ballot access is unlikely to be a problem. In Florida, in contrast, ballot access could be really significant issue for Nader. Michigan and Pennsylvania could also be ballot access challenges to the Nader campaign. And, Oregon is shaping up to be a much bigger job for Nader than it might have been.