You asked for a comparison of the public financing programs in Connecticut, Arizona, and Maine with respect to minor party and petitioning candidates. Specifically, you are interested in qualifying criteria and grant payments.

Connecticut, Arizona, and Maine are the only states to offer full public funding for both legislative and statewide office candidates. Under these voluntary public financing programs, candidates who collect qualifying contributions, agree to limit their spending, and comply with other requirements are eligible to receive state grants to fund or partially fund their campaigns.

However, neither Arizona nor Maine, uses the terms “major” and “minor,” as Connecticut does, to distinguish political parties that qualify for ballot access. Similarly, they do not use the term “petitioning candidate” to mean someone who petitions onto the ballot as an independent or under a new party designation (i.e., a newly-formed party or one that does not qualify for party status). Thus, we cannot directly compare minor party or petitioning candidate requirements among the three states. Instead, we provide the requirements for candidates representing political parties that (1) qualify for ballot representation (major and minor parties in Connecticut, recognized parties in Arizona, and qualified parties Maine) and (2) do not qualify or who are independent (petitioning, independent, and unenrolled candidates in Connecticut, Arizona, and Maine, respectively). We also provide the qualification requirements for representation on the ballot by parties.

Each of the three states imposes the same requirements on candidates who participate in its program (“participating candidates”) with respect to qualifying contributions. These requirements apply regardless of whether candidates represent a party that is eligible for ballot access, or they will petition onto the ballot as an independent or under a new party designation.

Once independent candidates qualify for public financing in Arizona, they receive (1) grants totaling 70% of the spending limit and (2) matching funds up to three times the general election spending limit, when added to the 70% grant. Recognized party candidates receive up to three times the spending limit in the primary and in the general election, separately. Once qualified in Maine, unenrolled candidates receive general election grants and matching funds equal to those that contested candidates representing qualified political parties receive. They receive primary grants, if any, equal to those that uncontested qualified political parties receive.

In Connecticut, neither minor nor petitioning party candidates are eligible for primary grants. The general election grant is dependent on the votes received by the party's candidate in the previous election (for minor parties) and petition signatures received as a percentage of total votes cast for the office (for petitioning candidates). Minor party or petitioning candidates who qualify for a grant are eligible for matching funds at the same levels as major party candidates.

All candidates in Arizona and Maine must collect signatures and turn in petitions. But to gain ballot access, those who do not represent a recognized party in Arizona or a qualified political party in Maine must meet additional signature requirements. For more information on these signature requirements, see OLR Report 2006-R-0162.

Under Connecticut's election system, candidates running for state, district, or municipal offices can get their names on the ballot in one of three ways: nomination by a (1) major party, (2) minor party, or (3) nominating petition.

A major party is one whose candidate for governor received at least 20% of the total vote for that office at the last gubernatorial election or whose enrolled membership, as of the last gubernatorial election, is at least 20% of the total enrollment in all political parties in the state (CGS § 9-372 (5)). A minor party is one that is not a major party and that, with respect to a particular office, received at least 1% of the total votes cast at the last regular election (CGS § 9-372 (6)). In this case, the minor party is entitled to nominate a candidate for that office. The candidate of a new party or running under no party designation can submit a nominating petition signed by a number of registered voters who are eligible to vote for the office sought equal to at least 1% of the total votes cast for the office at the last preceding election, or 7,500, whichever is less (CGS § 9-543d).

Historically, only the Democratic and Republican parties qualify for major party status. Third parties gain and lose minor party status for various offices and in various districts throughout the state depending on percentage of votes received.

For state elections, only a recognized political party is entitled to continued representation on the ballot. A recognized party is one that received at least 5% of the total votes cast for governor or president at the last preceding general election. Alternatively, a party is entitled to continued representation on the ballot if, on November 1 of the year immediately preceding the general election, it has a number of registered electors equal to at least two-thirds of 1% of the total registered electors in the state (ARS § 16-804).

A party is considered qualified for a primary election, and entitled to ballot representation, if its designation appeared on the ballot in either of the two preceding general elections and if:

To have its party designation appear on the ballot for the general election, a party must qualify to participate in a primary election and hold a state convention during that same year (MRS 21-A § 301).

TABLE 1: 2010 QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS

*N/A means not applicable since the state does not have minor party candidates for purposes of ballot access or public financing.

Under Connecticut's Citizens' Election Program (CEP), a participating minor party candidate can receive a grant for the general election equal to the grant a major party candidate receives if the candidate for the same office representing the same minor party at the last regular election received at least 20% of the votes cast for that office.  Similarly, a participating petitioning party candidate can receive a full grant for the general election if the petition was signed by a number of qualified electors equal to 20% of the number of votes cast for the same office at the last regular election.  (Both receive a one-thirds grant by meeting a 10% threshold or a two-thirds grant by meeting a 15% threshold.)

In addition, major, but not minor, party candidates are eligible for primary funding; if they run in “party-dominant districts,” (i.e., districts where their party has at least a 20% enrollment advantage over the other major party) they receive additional primary funding. Participating major party candidates receive a reduced grant if they run unopposed or against a minor party candidate who does not qualify for a grant. But if a minor party qualifies for a partial grant, the major party opponent receives a full grant. Minor party candidates who qualify for a partial grant may raise private contributions in increments of $100 or less up to the full grant. If they achieve a certain level of success in the election, they can potentially qualify for post-election reimbursement.

Under the CEP's matching funds provisions, participating candidates receive additional grant money when their opponents reach certain spending thresholds. For each race, participating candidates who qualify for grants, whether major, minor, or petitioning, receive the same matching amount (CGS § 9-705).

Under Arizona's Citizens Clean Election Act (ARS § 16-940 et seq.), independent candidates who participate in the public financing program receive less funding than recognized party candidates. Such candidates receive one grant totaling 70% of the spending limit for recognized party candidates running for the same office (ARS § 16-951). For independent expenditures made against them or in favor of opposing candidates during the general election period, they receive matching funds up to an amount that, when added to the 70% grant, equals three times the general election spending limit for recognized party candidates. Recognized party candidates receive up to three times the spending limit in the primary, and up to three times the spending limit in the general election (ARS § 16-952).

A legislative candidate who is a member of the dominant party in a party-dominant district may choose to reallocate a portion of funds from the general to the primary election. A party-dominant district is a legislative district in which one political party exceeds every other political party in voter registration by 10% or more as determined by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission by March 1 of an election year. These candidates do not receive additional funds; rather, they receive the majority during the primary election.

TABLE 2: 2010 PAYMENTS UNDER PUBLIC FINANCING PROGRAMS

*N/A means not applicable since the state does not have minor party candidates for purposes of ballot access or public financing.

** Citizens Clean Elections Commission adjusts the amount under ARS § 16-952 (E).

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