That’s the first day for unaffiliated candidates to start circulating petitions in Texas - a state that not only has 34 electoral votes (the second-highest in the nation after California’s 55 and just ahead of New York’s 31) but also is home to some of the more onerous requirements for getting onto the ballot. Candidates have roughly two months to collect just over 73,000 signatures; the filing deadline is May 8.
Independent candidate who wants to be taken seriously is going to want to be on the ballot in all states next fall, which means putting in place a nationwide signature-gathering operation (with the exception of a few states where one only has to pay a fee to get on the ballot).
The day Bloomberg announced he had switched his enrollment from GOP to blank - June 19 - was right around the deadline for candidates who want to run as independents in Colorado (nine electoral votes) to declare their disaffiliation from the major parties.
Colorado, like almost every state except Nebraska and Maine, which split their electoral votes based on congressional district winners (much like Democratic National Convention delegates are awarded here in New York), has a winner-take-all system for awarding its electoral votes.
In 2004, Colorado voters rejected an effort to change the state’s rules to allow for split electoral votes. A similar effort has been pushed this year in California, but major party candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have urged voters there to resist.
Michael H. Drucker
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