Bernie's battle to get on the New Hampshire ballot

Bernie Sanders has vowed to win the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary. As of right now, though, the Vermont independent isn’t entirely assured that he’ll qualify for the ballot.

Unlike early nominating states such as Iowa and South Carolina — where the process for getting on the ballot will be very simple for the Vermont independent — it has the potential to get a bit dicey in the Granite State (see below for the process).


At a town hall Friday in Nevada, a supporter said some of her friends were still concerned Sanders would be running as a third-party candidate in the mold of Ralph Nader — whom his campaign has explicitly cited as a model they wanted to avoid. “I am running for the Democratic nomination!” Sanders said loudly into the mic, drawing raucous cheers from the crowd.

It’s a complication for Sanders, who for a long time mulled a third-party presidential bid as an independent. Unlike former Gov. Howard Dean, who was the last Vermonter to run for president in 2004, Sanders has never called himself a Democrat, has declined the Democratic Senate nomination in Vermont and remains an independent in Congress, where he has served as an independent since 1990. (He’s the longest-serving independent in congressional history.)

Sanders does have many factors in his favor, and remains a virtual lock to get on the New Hampshire ballot: The Democratic National Committee has welcomed him into the Democratic race without qualification. Sanders has caucused with the Democrats for the past 25 years and has held top committee positions within the party — he’s now Senate Budget Committee ranking member and served as Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman when the Democrats were in the majority. In Vermont, he’s voted in Democratic presidential primaries.

He also has the unqualified support of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, which would be allowed to make its case to a bipartisan commission in the event of a challenge. “The New Hampshire Democratic Party considers Bernie Sanders a Democratic candidate for President and we will work to satisfy any requirements to make sure he’s on the ballot in February,” said state party chairman Ray Buckley.

People in New Hampshire also note that it would be a political nightmare for the state to ban Sanders — who is receiving more than 30 percent support from New Hampshire Democratic voters according to two polls this week — from the ballot. “It would cause all sorts of negative feedback if Sanders was banned for the ballot, no matter if there technically was a legal case or not,” said University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala.

Sanders has said several times that he will win in New Hampshire, and his campaign doesn’t seem unduly concerned about getting on the ballot.

Said spokesman Michael Briggs: “We don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

The process:

The Sanders campaign will file a declaration of candidacy — which will declare his registration with the Democratic Party in the state — to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office, which is tasked with certifying his candidacy. New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner has not committed to putting Sanders on the ballot, previously citing that Sanders isn’t yet a registered Democrat.

Vermont doesn’t have voter registration by party, meaning that Sanders can’t be a registered Democrat in the state even if he wanted to.

Even if Gardner certifies his candidacy, which is not a foregone conclusion, Sanders can face another challenge. If an individual with standing contests his candidacy, the bipartisan New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission will hear an official challenge.

“Usually we’ve been pretty liberal about letting people challenge,” said Brad Cook, the commission chairman, when asked how the committee determines what New Hampshire residents have standing.

“Frankly, with the number of people running and the contentiousness of the primary, I wouldn’t be surprised if we couldn’t find a Democrat to challenge it,” said Cook, who added that many Republicans in the state would also likely have standing to challenge his candidacy.

If the commission took up a challenge, Cook, a Republican appointed to his position by Democrats, would assess Sanders’ candidacy with two Democrats and two Republicans.