Americans Elect Gains Ballot Access in North Dakota



BISMARCK, ND, APRIL 17, 2012 -Americans Elect announced today that it has achieved a line on the ballot in North Dakota, giving voters a third choice for president in November. The Secretary of State’s office certified Americans Elect after it submitted over 8,000 signatures of North Dakota registered voters, more than double the amount required.



"The American people have really only been given two choices, Democrat or Republican,” said Matthew Rydberg, an Americans Elect delegate volunteer based in Bismarck. “Americans Elect is giving people that third choice and giving people back the voice that the two-party system has robbed them of. It is allowing voters to participate directly in the nominating process. Most people don't perfectly align with one party or the other, and AE is giving them the opportunity to select a candidate that more closely matches all of their opinions.”



Americans Elect is bringing fundamental change to the nominating system by breaking down traditional barriers to entry and using technology to propel the political process into the 21st century. At AmericansElect.org any registered voter can become a delegate, debate the issues, draft candidates, decide the Platform of Questions and, in June, vote in the first online convention to select a unity ticket that will inherit the ballot line in all 50 states.



To date, there have been 3 million visitors to the site, 19 million questions answered, over 400,000 delegates have signed up and there are over 460,000 Facebook fans.



North Dakota is the 24th state to certify Americans Elect, joining Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Americans Elect is awaiting certification in four states and is conducting ballot access efforts in nine others. To date, Americans Elect has collected over 85 percent of the 2.9 million signatures required for 50 state ballot access.