| The 3rd political party in Oklahoma was officially granted state recognition in early 2016, just in time to get Presidential candidate, Gary Johnson on the ballot. Unless the little-known Libertarian candidate in the 2020 race can get her message to catch fire, there may soon be an end to this 21st century franchise. 4 years ago, there were several Libertarian candidates of notoriety and political accomplishment. A software pioneer, former governors, and media personalities. This year's pandemic shut down so much political party activities. That includes national party conventions. It hurt the Libertarians deeply. And Kanye West launched an independent effort. His global notoriety and personal wealth is likely going to give him as much ballot consideration as the Libertarian. The Oklahoma legislature gave the new party a very favorable package of reforms in state law regarding political organization. |  Can a political party get a 'yellow card' ? What causes a party to get an ejection? |
 Chris Powell is a city council member in Bethany, OK | For decades, the oklahoma statutes required that a party's headliner candidate (president or governor) acquire 10% of the popular vote in order to keep the party alive in election law. Lawmakers changed that to 2.5%, when Senator Kyle Loveless and Rep. Jason Murphey launched a reform effort. And the new law now says you must not fall short of the 2.5% threshold twice in a row. The law now also says that any statewide party candidate can fill the 2.5%, and any of our several statewide offices can suffice. Two years ago, Chris Powell built on the 0.5% Libertarian Party voter registration when he got the support of Medical Marijuana advocates who were frustrated with the two larger parties. That helped his penniless campaign to get 3.44% of the statewide vote. So if Jo Jorgensen fails to get 2.5% of Oklahoma presidential votes, her party gets the equivalent of a "Yellow Card" (think soccer rules) . That would require a do-or-die for the 2022 state campaign cycle. |
Read further: Ballotpedia has a great write up on Oklahoma laws regarding political party sanctioning.
