Third-party organization No Labels scored a victory on Wednesday when Kansas announced it would be recognized as a political party in the state.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said in a release that “No Labels Kansas” met the requirements to become a political party. The news is another step in the right direction for the group’s nationwide mission to get on the 2024 ballot in all 50 states.
Schwab said the party was able to submit a petition of collected registered voter signatures equal to 2% of the total votes cast in the 2022 gubernatorial general election.
The last political party to achieve recognition in Kansas was Americans Elect in 2012, which lost recognition a year later after failing to nominate any candidates in the 2012 elections, the state said.
No Labels will join the Libertarian Party, recognized in Kansas in 1992, as a minor political party on the ballot. Kansas voter registration forms have already been modified to include No Labels Kansas as a choice for voter affiliation.
Though No Labels cannot participate in the August primary election, it must nominate candidates by convention or caucus.
“A minor party can become a major party and be entitled to nominate its general election candidates at the August primary, if its governor candidate receives more than five percent of the statewide vote,” Schwab’s office said.
No Labels has now achieved ballot access in at least 14 states; it announced Maine as its 13th state on Jan. 5. The group has also gained access to ballots in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah.
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The political organization has long sought to open doors for third-party candidates in several presidential contests. For the 2024 election, specifically, the group is weighing options to provide alternatives to former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for voters who do not want to see a repeat of the 2020 election.
Some political groups such as Third Way and other Democratic allies have criticized No Labels as working to aid a GOP victory in 2024, with the former going so far as to accuse the third-party group of wanting a contingent election.