Yesterday the Libertarian Party of Arkansas announced that it has submitted voter signatures to the secretary of state in order to gain access to all races on the 2012 general election ballot.

According to party chair Rodger Paxton, the party submitted 16,144 signatures to Secretary of State Mark Martin's office. In order for the party to gain ballot access, at least 10,000 signatures must be labeled valid by Martin's office. He has 30 days to verify the signatures.

The Libertarian Party has never fielded any candidate in Arkansas other than president. Party spokesperson Jessica Paxton said yesterday that the party plans to have candidates across the spectrum of political races, from the congressional to the municipal levels.

Rodger Paxton also claimed that once the Libertarian Party makes it onto the ballot in Arkansas, it will be the first third party since the 1920s to have non-presidential candidates in all 50 states.

Prior to yesterday, the only electorally active third party in Arkansas was the Green Party, which has gained some prominence in the last few elections with candidates performing respectably in races for high-level offices. In the 2008 U.S. Senate race, Green candidate Rebekah Kennedy got 20% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor; the Republican Party did not run a candidate in that race. Last year, Kennedy ran as the Green candidate for attorney general and got 27% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Dustin McDaniel, while Green Party members Bobby Tullis and Mary Hughes-Willis got 32% and 29% of the vote, respectively, in races against Democratic incumbents for treasurer and auditor.

The Green Party has sued the state over its ballot access requirements, claiming that they are too rigid and that the party has established enough of an electoral presence to have automatic ballot access. Currently, a party must have received at least 3% of the vote in the latest presidential or gubernatorial election (whichever was more recent) in order to have automatic ballot access.

Green gubernatorial candidate Jim Lendall only pulled 2% of the vote in last year's election. The last Libertarian candidate to appear on an Arkansas ballot, presidential candidate Bob Barr in 2008, received only 0.44% of the vote.

Photo credit: Office of Secretary of State Mark Martin.