neonvincent

I mentioned in yesterday's entry that Michigan's "sore loser law" would come into play in today's entry. It did in one of the more read and responded to articles of 2015.

Trump could run afoul of Michigan's sore loser law

Donald Trump's answer to the first question of Thursday night's debate, that he would not pledge to support the Republican nominee and would not rule out an independent run for President. If Trump ran as an independent, he would have to make a decision by December of this year, two months before the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire. Otherwise, the current leader in the polls for the Republican nomination might end up without his name on Michigan's ballot in November 2016.

The reason Trump's name might be absent from next year's general election ballot if he runs as an independent is Michigan's "sore loser law." This provision of Michigan's election law prevents the loser in one party's primary election from running as an independent or a nominee of another party in the general election. Unlike most other states' version of this law, Michigan's also applies to presidential candidates.

According to 2016Primary.com, Trump's name is likely to be placed on the primary ballot by the Secretary of State as one "of the individuals generally advocated by the national news media to be potential presidential candidates for each party's nomination." If his name is not listed, then his campaign has until Friday, December 11, 2015 to file to get on the ballot for the March 8, 2016 primary. Normally, candidates have three business days to withdraw their names after the deadline, which would make the final deadline to decide on appearing on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate Wednesday, December 16. After that date, Trump's name will remain on the ballot for the primary, making him subject to the "sore loser law."

The last presidential candidate to suffer from this provision of Michigan's election law was former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Governor Johnson barely missed the deadline to remove his name from the 2012 Republican primary ballot. Consequently, his name appeared before the voters in February 2012 even though he had suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination. In May 2012, the Libertarian Party nominated Johnson to be their candidate for President. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson invoked the "sore loser law" and ruled that Governor Johnson was ineligible to appear on the November ballot.

The Libertarian Party of Michigan tried to get around Secretary Johnson's decision by nominating a different Gary Johnson to be their nominee for President. Secretary Johnson denied that attempt as well, so the Libertarian Party had no candidate on the ballot despite the Libertarians being the third largest political party in both Michigan and the nation.

Governor Johnson and the Libertarian Party of Michigan appealed the decision. The Sixth Circuit Court ruled against them, upholding Secretary Johnson's position. Their legal efforts failed when the United States Supreme Court declined to review the decision.

Michigan election law did not preclude Governor Johnson from running as a write-in candidate. Ballotpedia lists 7,973 write-in votes in the 2012 election. Based on the 23,716 votes the Libertarian ticket received in 2008, many if not most went to Governor Johnson. Trump may have to follow the same path should he decide to pursue the presidency as an independent candidate after the deadline to withdraw.