

Karl Tagenhorst

The Indiana Libertarian Party retained ballot access for the sixth time in a row, going back to 1994, as secretary of state candidate Karl Tagenhorst received 3.4 percent in this month’s general election.

The secretary of state candidate needs to get at least 2 percent for a party to retain ballot access in Indiana.

Getting on the ballot in Indiana is not easy, requiring an amount of signatures equal to 2 percent of the total votes cast for secretary of state in the previous general election for any candidate running for a statewide office. Thus, any person wishing to run for a statewide office without ballot access must collect at least 26,650 signatures.

“Indiana has some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation,” LPIN Chair Dan Drexler said. “Once a party has earned its way on the ballot, it’s critical we keep it. This year, Karl Tatgenhorst’s campaign for Indiana Secretary of State surpassed the necessary threshold for the party to maintain ballot access for another four years. This will establish 24 years of continuous ballot access for the party and allow us to run candidates in partisan races at every level.”

Indiana is one of the most difficult states to get on the ballot, as it is one of four states Ralph Nader has never made the ballot when running for president.