A CQ Roll Call analysis of state filing deadlines shows that an independent candidate would sacrifice 111 electoral votes if he or she waited until the start of the Republican National Convention in July to file for ballot access. It’s already too late to file in Texas where the cutoff date was Monday. But filing deadlines begin piling up in June with states like North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois and New Mexico.

Florida and Michigan are up next in July. If a third-party challenger does not act soon, many electoral votes will be long gone, making the magic winning number of 270 near impossible to reach.



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