Candidate general-election filing requirements approaching

Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES – Potential independent or third-party candidates like Sioux City Republican Bob Vander Plaats or Des Moines Democrat Jonathan Narcisse have until mid-August to get their names on the Nov. 2 general-election ballot.

Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro said Friday that candidates seeking to have their names on the fall ballot for state or federal offices must file nomination papers with the required number of signatures between July 26 and Aug. 13. Candidates who won their respective contests in the June 8 primary election are automatically placed on the general-election ballot and do not need to file again, he added.

Candidates seeking to run for the Iowa offices of U.S. senator, governor and lieutenant governor as a team, or the statewide offices of attorney general, state auditor, secretary of agriculture, secretary of state or state treasurer are required to collect a minimum of 1,500 signatures from at least 10 counties. Candidates for U.S. House must gather at least 300 signatures from within the district, while candidates for state Senate need a minimum of 100 signatures and for Iowa House need 50 signatures from their respective districts to appear on the general-election ballot as a third-party or independent candidate.

“Now that the primary election has concluded, our office is preparing for November's general election,” Mauro said in a statement. “Individuals wishing to run as a third party, and political parties that did not nominate a candidate during the primary election will need to meet the requirements and important deadlines specified by Iowa code.”

Political parties that did not nominate a candidate for a particular office at the primary election may nominate a candidate for the general election by convention, added Mauro, the state's commissioner of elections. However, candidates nominated by political party convention must file an affidavit of candidacy and the certificate of nomination by the political party before the filing deadline for the particular office they are seeking.

Narcisse has indicated he and his chosen running mate, Rick Marlar of rural Wayland, are gathering signatures with plans to run as an independent team for governor and lieutenant governor in November. Iowa Democrats already have nominated Gov. Chet Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge for their re-election bid and Iowa Republicans selected former Gov. Terry Branstad as their nominee for a fifth term and ratified his choice of state Sen. Kim Reynolds, R-Osceola, as his running mate.

Vander Plaats, the 2006 GOP lieutenant governor nominee who finished second to Branstad in the June 8 GOP primary, has not publicly ruled out a possible independent bid in November, although he has said he would not consider such a run if he did not believe he could win in November. Delegates to last month's GOP convention nominated Vander Plaats as their choice for lieutenant governor again this year, but the Republicans in attendance voted to pair Reynolds with Branstad as the party's 2010 ticket.

Mauro noted that required nomination papers, a list of offices that will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, and detailed candidate guides are available at the Web address www.sos.state.ia.us/elections/electioninfo/General/index.html or by visiting www.IowaVotes.gov and clicking on the “information for candidates” link at the top of the page.

Candidates for county offices are required to file their nomination papers with their county auditors between Aug. 2 and Aug. 25.

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