Add this to the list of big changes resulting from Tuesday’s election: By next week, you might be able to register as a Libertarian in New Hampshire.

Although the final word depends on state certification of unofficial election results, it appears that Max Abramson received enough votes for governor to give the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire ballot status in 2018.

Abramson, a state representative from Seabrook, unofficially received slighly over 31,000 votes for governor, or 4.3 percent of the total – better than the 4 percent trigger required by state law for a party to have ballot access. If those results hold, it will be much easier for Libertarians to be put on the ballot starting with 2018 party primaries, or earlier if there is a special election for state office.

“The Libertarian will not have to petition to get any of their candidates on the ballot,” said Darryl Perry of Keene, chairman of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. “Candidates won’t have to go out and collect a large number of petitions in a short period of time. They’ll just pay that $2 filing fee (as with) other parties.”

“This will ultimately save Libertarians thousands of dollars, hundreds of man hours, for getting on the ballot,” he said.

The Libertarian Party had ballot access in New Hampshire from 1990 to 1997, but lost it after the ballot-access threshold was raised from 3 percent to 4 percent.

Abramson did slightly better than the Libertarian Party candidate for president, Gary Johnson, who received 4 percent of total votes for that race.

(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)